-FMAB- Broken Ties
by Fallen-Gravity
Summary: A remake of my first FMAB fanfiction: Flaming Minds. For her whole life, Chiui is wondering who her father is, since she has never met him. So with Rin's secret of not telling Chiui who her father really is (since he's an Ishvalan), since she wants Chiui to stay with her, Yosung, and Rai, in Xing...it only drives Chiui to find out the truth herself. Later Ling x Chiui
1. Prologue

- **1899** -

"She's beautiful, isn't she, Mother?" The noble, dark-haired woman asked her mother, who was sitting next to her in the outside porch of her house. The house was Xingese styled, and very detailed in pattern. The porch was made out of wood, and had sturdy, stained glass temples to held the roof up on top of them. It was a beautiful, yet cloudy day outside. Rin was expecting rain to come sooner or later.

"She definitely is, Rin." A warm smile tugged at Rai's lips as her dark eyes looked down at Rin's baby girl.

The baby's name was Chiui Youngsen, who Rin had help from her lover, Samuel,for the name. Chiui had skin that was a mix of Rin's pale skin and Samuel's tan skin, thus making her skin similiar to her father's...but slightly tanner than Samuel. Samuel, who was an Ishvalan, a foreigner to Xing. Rai found out that Rin and Samuel were having a brief affair, and Rai kicked him out.

Rin, to be frank, didn't like her mother's prejudice against Ishvalans. Ishvalans were fine with Rin, since she always loved learning about them. Same went with the Amestrian ethnicity. Also, she noticed that she had more of a love for Samuel than the Xingese Emperor. Samuel was so kind, and so handsome...and she truly missed him...

"Are you thinking about that foreigner again?" she heard her mother's voice with that stern tone to it. Rin knew it all too well; Rai always used it whenever Rin was in trouble or had done something she wasn't supposed to do.

Rai exhaled with sorrow. "Yes, Mother."

"Well, you shouldn't have cheated on the Emperor like that." Rai informed her. "You are one of the many wives that he has, and he is disappointed in you falling in love with Samuel."

"Now," the older woman continued before Rin could get a word in, "do you think that the Emperor would like to see her?"

The black-haired woman glanced at her mother, her eyebrows arched down in concern. Her eyes then locked on her baby girl's eyes, which were as red as her father's were.

"...No..." Rin told her with grief in her heart, knowing how the Emperor is when his wives have babies of another race, or a mixed race. "He won't..."


	2. The Beginning of the Changes

It was now 1907. Chiui, an 8-year old girl with medium gray hair, red eyes, and noble pink Xingese clothing, ran down the streets of Xing.

Giggles of laughter escaped her lips as her feet hit the solid, light yellow ground. The reason why she was passing by in the busy streets was a question to the people, but it seemed to be answered when they saw another kid run down the street, following her.

This kid's name was Yosung, the child of Rin and the Xingese Emperor. Unlike Chiui, he had dark black hair and dark eyes like his mother. Same went with his skin tone. He was wearing noble, green Xingese attire.

"Catch me if you can, brother!" Chiui giggled once more as she looked over her shoulder at her 6 year old half-brother.

"Heh." Yosung smirked. "Back at you, sis!"

He went to turn the corner where Chiui had run into, and was shocked to see that the older kid was not there as his feet skidded across the ground, causing dust to subside under them.

He scanned the perimeter, hoping that nobody took Chiui or that she is hiding somewhere.

"There you two are! I've been looking everywhere for you."

Yosung's eyes widened as he blinked, soon turning around to face the owner of the feminine voice.

He saw it to be his mother, Rin Youngsen. She had Chiui next to her, holding her small hand gently. The noble woman had anger in her expression, which didn't show in her concerned eyes, but in her eyebrows...due to one of them being arched down and furrowed.

"I should have known that you two would go off and do this, since you two share the love of playing and adventure," she sighed knowingly, then let go of Chiui's hand for a brief moment so she could pick up Yosung, holding him up with one arm. She then took a hold of her daughter's hand once more. "Also, you two should knew better than to not run off when you're in my sight."

Chiui and Yosung looked down apologetically. "Sorry, mommy..."

"It's alright, my dears." Rin replaced her stern frown with a warm smile, as to not make Chiui and Yosung sad about what they did. "You just need to learn not to do that again, that's all."

Yosung's little tummy growled, and he rested his hand on it.

Rin couldn't help but chuckle. "You must've worked up an appetite while we were outside shopping for stuff for dinner later." she then turned around, with Chiui and Yosung following her. "Come. Let's get back to the house."

Rin set down the story she was reading when she heard footsteps approaching the living room of the house.

"What took you three so long?" she asked them, her eyes presenting her concern.

"Well, it wasn't supposed to take long at all, Mother," Rin started to explain, and put her hands on her childrens' shoulders. "But I had to run and get these two after they ran out of my sight." she then giggled thinking about it. "I had told them that doing this will teach them a lesson not to do it again...but I can't help but see the adventurous side they have to their personalities..."

"True." The older noble woman couldn't help but smile, either. She then looked at her grandkids. "I'm guessing you two are waiting for dinner?"

Chiui and Yosung nodded enthusiastically, their heads going in a fast motion. Even though the two were half-sibilings, with Chiui being Samuel and Rin's daughter...and with Yosung being the Emperor and Rin's son, the two were a lot alike.

"That is a pretty obvious answer." Rai's eyes grinned at her grandchildren. "Want something to tide you over? I bought dumplings last week."

"Oh, boy!" The medium gray-haired girl showed signs of joy with her arms bent upwards and her fists clenched. "Would we? I missed eating those."

"Well, that's why I bought them."

Rai then excused herself for a moment so she could go and get the dumplings, which she kept stored in a freezer her servants made for her when they were working in the house. They were on leave for right now, and won't be back until fall.

Chiui and Yosung's eyes beamed with delight when they saw Rai bring two dumplings each for them, which they happily took and devoured. The dumplings were a medium size, so the kids having two would fill them up for the time being.

The kids decided to play outside, where the backyard was gated up safely so they wouldn't wonder off. Rai was glad to see them occupied since something had just recently crossed her mind, and was sticking there.

Rin could tell by her mother nervously resting her fingertips on her coffee cup. "Something wrong, Mother?"

Rai blinked, then shook her head. "No, no. Just thinking about Yosung, that's all."

"Ah. Is this about my husband, the Emperor?"

The older Xingese woman replied with a slight, worried frown at first. "Yes. He's been gone for quite a while now, and I'm pretty sure Yosung misses him a lot. The Emperor left a few years ago when Yosung was just 3, and we don't know where he's gone to..."

"Well, the meetings he has to go to with the other important politicians and leaders tend to take while." Her daughter reminded her. "We both know that."

"Yes, I know...but, his wives are in charge of the empire for right now. His first wife knows how the empire is ruled and how it runs in terms of the said topics you mentioned. I just hope that he comes back alright, and that his kids are alright."

Rin reached out to her mother, and rested a hand on her shoulder, patting it gently. "Don't fret so much, Mother. Yosung's alright being here, since he is the youngest of the 16 princes and Princesses of Xing. So I am pretty sure that Yosung's siblings will be alright, including Ling Yao."

There was silence before Rai responded. "...I suppose you're right, Rin."

The two women then looked at the backyard, where Chiui and Yosung were playing tag outside, laughing at times when one of them either jumped or fell into the grass.

"...I've always been wondering what Chiui will be like when she grows up."

"Hm?" Rin didn't exactly hear what her mother said, since most of it came out in a mutter, and all she heard was "when she grows up". "Say that again?"

Rai faced her daughter. "I was saying that I have always been wondering what your daughter, Chiui, will be like when she grows up, considering that she's half Ishvalan, half Xingese. She is already a Princess due to you being a wife of the Emperor, but it might cause some trouble down the road when she becomes an adult. She might get kicked out or rejected by the Emperor."

Rin's dark eyes widened; she was shocked at her mother's choice of words. It sounded...so much different than usual.

"What do you mean, Mother?" The noble daughter had a confused, yet knowing tone to her question.

"I mean that, if Chiui wants to live out her life here as a normal citizen and inherits your noble status when she's an adult...or happens to marry a Prince of Xing that becomes Emperor, it would be troublesome for her due to her race, in which I just mentioned it."

"That's what I'm worried about, too, Mother," Rai agreed, "but...you usually have a prejudice against Ishvalans, with Samuel being one. And you care a lot for my daughter, Chiui, though she is half his race. Are you saying that you're..."

Her voice trailed off, since she had expected for her mother to say something right away to her. Rai only continued to stare out into the backyard, her eyes luminating from the sunshine outside.

"Mother?"

Rai apologized when she turned to lock her eyes on Rin. "Sorry. I...am just worried about Chiui's safety, that's all. I still have my prejudice against Ishvalans..."

Rin gave her mother a doubtful look when Rai looked away once more. She had a weird feeling that what her mother said was a lie at the end. Could her mother possibly be revealing that her prejudice against Ishvalans is slowly starting to go away, or is it something else...?

That is what Rin was left to think about...

Rin planted a soft kiss on Chiui's forehead as she put her daughter to bed later in the night. Chiui smiled, followed by a small giggle.

"Good night, Mom." she told her. Yosung was already asleep next to her in a separate bed, snoring away, which didn't bother Chiui all that much. It used to when she was younger.

Rin smiled warmly. "Good night, my dears." she then pulled the sheet up a little closer to make Chiui more comfortable." she then patted Chiui's head before making her way to the door.

She stopped in her tracks, with one of her feet lifted up, and looked over her shoulder at Chiui. She thought she heard Chiui say, "Mom." as she walked away.

Chiui pursed her lips for a moment, thinking of what to say, since what she was about to bring up had quickly went away from her mind.

"Yes, dear?" Rin asked, still paused in the same position, waiting for her daughter's answer.

The gears in Chiui's head started turning as the thought came to her mind again. Her little hand clenched lightly at her bed sheet as her crimson eyes locked on her mother's.

"Where's Daddy?"

That simple question made Rin's blood freeze, and the room went dead silent afterwards.

"W-Why do you ask, Chiui?" The noble Xingese woman questioned her daughter nervously.

Chiui seemed confused by her mother's sudden change in expression. "Well, Mommy..." she gave a little shrug, "I haven't seen Daddy at all around the house. Is he gone somewhere or something, possibly helping the Emperor?"

"Uh..." The raven-haired woman went to say, but stopped herself for a moment. "That's a good question, dear. The best guess is that he's gone a trip somewhere. That's how he always is...busy busy busy." she added a fretful laugh to the end of her reply.

Chiui just blinked, then yawned. She struggled to keep her eyes open, since she wanted to ask her mother many more questions about her father. But Rin could see that her little Princess needed sleep, so she came over and gave her daughter another kiss on the forehead.

"Good night, my little Princess." she received a soft giggle from Chiui as the little kid started to get some rest, and then carefully walked over to Yosung, kissing his forehead gently as to not wake Chiui's half brother up.

Rin then left the room, turning off the lamp as she did so.


	3. The Ultimate Choice

**-1914-**

The muscles in Chiui's arms relaxed as she stretched outside on a beautiful afternoon in Xing. She had just gotten done finishing her chores around the house with her mother, Yosung, and Rai.

Chiui's hair has grown more over the years, so her hair was in a braid. She was comfortable with it, since it made her feel more relaxed versus her wearing her hair down. The usual, girly Xingese outfits she wore as a kid have reverted to a more casual look: A light red and gold noble Xingese shirt, with jeans and hand-made shoes made by Rai, her grandmother. The purple flower on the bracelet was something her mother made for her as give to her when she was 8...which felt like so long ago.

"Hey, sis!" she heard a masculine voice call her. "Are you done?"

Chiui swiped off a bead of sweat that was running down her forehead from the work as she turned to face Yosung. "Yes, brother. I can tell you're already done, due to your build." she laughed.

Yosung couldn't help but laugh as well; Chiui was right. Yosung was scrawny as a kid, but due to helping out Rin a lot over the house and also around the empire with his father, he has gained a lot of muscle. He didn't seem to mind, but was surprised when he caught the attention of teen Xingese girls from another clan, who took a liking to him. Chiui remembered that moment.

"Well," Yosung spoke up after the brief moment of silence," you seem to be getting some more build, too."

The medium gray haired teen blushed out of embarrassment, shocked that Yosung said that. "Y-You sure, brother? Because I...I consider myself scrawny and not as strong as you are."

Yosung elbowed her playfully. "Don't say that you're not strong. When one of my half-brothers came for a visit to the house here, you just about knocked him down with a tackle!"

Chiui giggled, noticing that her emotion from before was going away. "Yeah, but that's how I usually react when seeing my uncles."

"Chiui! Yosung!" The two teens heard their mother say their names as she stepped outside with a basket of vegetables in her arms. "Are you two done with your chores?"

"Yes we are, Mother!" Chiui and Yosung replied in unison, and Rin couldn't help but chuckle.

"It figures. You two are always chatting away after you're finished helping me and your grandmother around the house and such."

"Anyways, I need your help with dinner tonight." she added, and nodded over to the basket in her hands. "We're having salad with chicken, and the salad will need to be prepared really well."

Chiui raised her hand. "I would love to help with the salad."

"Cooking the chicken sounds good to me." Yosung raised her hand next, and Rin didn't seem to have a problem with them taking those tasks.

"Good, then." Rin gave her kids a warm smile, then told them to come on inside. "It's going to be humid for the rest of the afternoon, so it'll be best to stay inside until evening time."

During the rest of the afternoon, Chiui decides to visit the library in their house, which had been built when she was 9. She instantly took an interest in it, and has always wanted to read the books. However, the library was always closed off since her grandmother, Rai, always worked as a teacher in there for young Xingese students until she retired. So now, Chiui is free to read any book she wants to, with her mother's permission, of course.

So, standing on her tippy toes to get to the fifth shelf, she ran her fingers across the bindings of the books, her fingertips sliding easily on the rough surfaces. She spotted a book in Xingese, and took it out carefully. Chiui was able to understand Xingese perfectly; her mother has been teaching her the language ever since she was born. So she knew the language by heart.

" _Histories_ _Behind Other Ethnicities,_ huh?" Chiui raised an eyebrow, her curiosity already rising to its usual peak. "Sounds interesting...I wonder what it's about?"

She soon found out for herself once she opened the book. She had gone through the table of contents first to look up the races, and the Ishvalan race was what interested her most, so she flipped through until she found the page.

Her red eyes scanned the Xingese words, and a curious smile came across her lips as she got lost in the book.

She didn't know how long she was reading it until she heard a knock on the wall near the door. The hairs on her back rose as she jumped, and then faced to see who or what made that sound.

Her crimson eyes widened when she saw that it was her grandmother. The gray-haired woman was standing at the doorway, her arms crossed. Chiui knew the pose as well as her mother did. Whenever Rai had her arms in that position, and she had a knowing look on her face, she knew that they were in hot water.

Except...it didn't seem to happen this time. "What have you been doing?" Rai asked her granddaughter sternly, causing Chiui's body to stiffen.

"Um..." Chiui went to say, but almost lost her words due to being nervous. She managed to regain her speech. "Well, I was bored, and decided to come here and read a book. See?"

She held up the book for the Xingese elderly woman to see. Her dark eyes scanned the book title once before she looked at Chiui, shocked. " _Histories_ _Behind Other Ethnicities?_ Where did you find this?"

"On the fifth shelf, up there." Chiui pointed over to it, and Rai noticed the empty spot where the book originally was before Chiui took it off the shelf.

"...I see." Chiui noticed her grandmother's tone, it sounded like she was thinking while saying the sentence.

"Is something wrong, Grandma?" Chiui questioned her, her curious eyes turning into that of concern. "If you don't want me reading this book, I'm more than happy to put it back and not take it out again."

"Oh, no, it's not that." Rai told her after a brief moment of silence passed by the room. What she wasn't revealing to Chiui was that when she noticed Chiui show her the book, she instantly thought of what she did to Samuel.

She knew that she had to kick him out by the Emperor's orders when the Emperor found out that Rin and him were having an affair, not to mention that the Emperor didn't want to see Chiui when she was born due to her sharing her father's race. But the Emperor started visiting the house and bringing Yosung with him from time to time, and Chiui grew on him.

Now...since Chiui was a teen, Rai realized that her prejudice against Ishvalans was starting to fade, and this had happened when Chiui was still an infant. She was stuck on why this was happening, but deep in her heart, she knew it was because of regret...regret of sending Samuel away in the first place. She remembered how infatuated Rin was with Samuel when they met, and how happy she looked...which was parallel to Rin and her reaction to marrying the Emperor, becoming one of his many wives from the 50 clans of Xing. She knew that Rin wasn't really enthusiastic about marrying the Emperor, but even though she had a child with him, she held Yosung close to her heart.

 _I should've allowed Samuel to stay with Rin..._ Rai sighed melancholicly. _But if I did, Samuel would have to face a fate worse than death, and Rin and I pretty much knew what that meant. So it was better for him to leave. Hopefully, one day, he-_

"Grandmother? Are you alright?"

Chiui's worried tone and question broke Rai of her thoughts. She blinked a couple of times, and locked her dark eyes on her granddaughter's.

"I-I'm fine, dear. Pardon me going off into space like that. I've...just had a lot on my mind, that's all..."

"Like what?" Chiui's voice had changed into that of curiosity, like it usually did, as she set down the book and pulled in the chair to the desk, soon making her way to Rai.

Rai could tell that, and looked away. "Well, it's hard to explain, and it's a bit of a long story to tell you. I'm sure you won't understand it."

"I'm sure I will, Grandma." Chiui told her with a raised eyebrow. "Why? Did someone close to you pass away? Is that is what's on your mind?"

Rai shook her head. "No, but it's someone...that was..." _Close to your mother._ she almost said it, and caught herself. But knowing that her Xingese-Ishvalan grandaughter's questions wouldn't stop until she got the answer, she decided to start telling her.

She put her hands together, with the middle of the fingers pointed downwards like upside-down triangles. She held her hands gently, to make herself calm as she said this, as to not make herself worried while talking to the teen about her father.

"Well..." she pursed her lips. "your mother had told me about 7 years ago that you were wondering where your father was. I was shocked, and so was she. But, knowing that you're curious like your mother, and that you two both share interest in history of our country and other countries, it's changed my mind about the particular country your father is from."

"What do you mean by that?" Chiui interrupted, but noticed that she did so, and apologized instantly. "I mean...what particular country are you talking about?"

 _Ishval._ Rai thought, and wanted to say it, but knew that Xing and Ishval weren't really fond of each other. They used to be, a long time ago, until someone of Xing had decided to start a war and began blaming the Ishvalans. They soon went to war, in which a couple more erupted from that...and when the wars ended, they ended off on bad terms, so Ishvalans weren't allowed in Xing anymore, and Xingese people weren't allowed in Ishval anymore. Then the War of Extermination started when Chiui hit heSo Rai knew it was a long story due to Samuel telling her this, and he was surprised that he was able to last 3 years in Xing without getting caught. Rin was relieved, but also heartbroken when he did have to leave...he had no other choice.

She didn't want to tell that whole paragraph of thoughts to Chiui, though, since Chiui would be shocked, and heartbroken that her dad had to leave.

She hated that she had to lie, but she had to...

"Amestris."

"Amestris?" Chiui raised an eybrow once more like she did earlier. "Isn't that where Center military is?"

"It's Central, dear, and yes, it is." Rai corrected her with a little chuckle, though the instant regret of lying to her own granddaughter stuck to the back of her head.

"Awesome! Then..." Chiui went to speak up, and stopped. She knew that Amestris was far away, and it would take her a long time to get through the she knew, deep inside, that she has been wanting to meet her father for so long, and wanted to get the chance to do it now than later.

"Then I will go on a trek to find him." she finished her sentence with full confidence.

Rei stepped a few inches back, startled. Did she just hear what her granddaughter just said? She asked her to make sure she did.

"That's right, Grandma. I've been wanting to meet my father, and haven't gotten the courage to do so until now. Reading up on the different countries, mostly Ishval, has made my confidence grow, so I feel like I should do this...on my own." She had a feeling that her father was in Amestris, but had recently gone to Ishval, since her mother mentioned that her father was a traveler when she was 8...but that's the only thing her mother told her.

"But...what about Yosung?" Rai asked her.

"I...don't think Yosung would feel right about going with me." Chiui told her. "Besides, the Emperor and Mother need his help around the house a lot, and he needs to help babysit his younger half-siblings. He will be busy, I'm sure."

Rai let out a concerned sigh, her right eyebrow furrowed in the same manner. "That is true, dear." she then looked at her granddaughter. "Have you told your mother this?"

"No, I haven't-" Chiui didn't finish her sentence. She knew that if Rin found out, that her mother would be constantly worrying about her while Chiui is on her trek to find her father. She didn't want her mother to worry, especially if Chiui happens to get badly injured or worse...die during the search.

Chiui sighed. "...I don't want to. She'll get worried about me, and I don't want her to be like that." she then put up the book, and started leaving the library room, her feet moving in a hurried manner until she reached the doors.

She turned to face her grandmother. "But before I go, I will need your help to pack my stuff. I know what I'll need to take on this trip, since Mother had taught us the basic means of survival if we happen to get lost."

 _Especially in the desert,_ Rai thought, but Chiui already knew that.

"Alright." Rai told her, trying to put a smile on her face to hide how scared and concerned she was of Chiui making this bold of a choice. "I'll help you."

And with that, Chiui and Rai were off.

Chiui smiled warmly as she finished putting the scarf around her desert clothes. They were quite comfortable, and fit her just fine. They were actually Rin's father's clothes, but Rin decided to pass it down into the new generation, which Chiui was a part of.

"Now, are you packed and ready to go?" Rai wanted to make sure, so Chiui didn't leave anything behind and end up being stranded.

Chiui checked, then did a thumbs up. "Yep, I have everything ready to go." She walked over to her grandmother, and gave her a full, loving hug. Rai smiled, and hugged her in return. But what Chiui didn't see was the tears emerging in her dark eyes, causing them to be glassy. The tears went into hiding when the two pulled away from the embrace.

"I love you, Grandma." Chiui told her sincerely, and kissed her grandmother on the cheek. She then grabbed her stuff, putting it in her backpack, and started walking away in a happy rhythm.

She was only a few feet away in the hearing range when she yelled, "Tell Mother and Yosung that I love them too, and not to worry about me!" she smiled. "Besides, I am the 1st Princess of the Youngsen clan; I need to be brave!"

She then added a "Bye bye!", in which Rai said the same in return, then watched as her granddaughter left her sight.

Rai then let the tears come out of hiding and go down her face as her knees give in, causing her to sit down on the chair of the front porch of the house with a _plop._

She then rested an elbow on the arm of the chair, and then the fingertips of a hand on her head, expressing the guilt and shock she was feeling, and the realization that was racing through her mind.

 _Oh dear..._ she started saying to herself in her mind, _what have Rin and I done...? By telling Chiui that her father is a traveler, and me telling her that he's in Amestris...I've done such a disgrace on her, lying like that. But...this is only driving Chiui to find out the truth..._

She then started sobbing, quietly, into her hands as her head rested on them, slowly.


	4. Envoy from the East

If you're wondering why the title is named this, the story is going to be following the arcs of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood from this chapter on. Hope you guys don't mind!

Chiui felt like she was about to collapse due to how much her feet were killing her. She has been walking across the desert for some time now, and has already eaten a sandwich and a few dumplings that her grandmother packed for her.

Beads of sweat were running down from her temple, and she wiped them off each time she noticed them...but they continued coming.

"Man..." Chiui exhaled, noticing her voice was a tad hoarse due to her not drinking much water that she put in her canteen, "I should've looked over my mother's instructions of how to survive in the desert before leaving Xing...it's...too hot outside..."

The thought of the canteen came across her mind, so she took a few long sips. She tilted her canteen upwards to check to see if there was any more water left, but all she saw was a single drip run down the bottom of the canteen and onto the ground, evaporating in seconds. Chiui was heartbroken that she didn't have any water left, and put the item back in her backpack.

She had forgotten that she drank most of it when she was just out of Xing.

 _Maybe I should take it easy and rest somewhere..._ she thought, but then took it back. _Wait, no! My back will mostly likely get burned...and the desert gets really cold at night-_

Just then, she noticed three silhouettes in front of her. She walked closer to make them out, and saw that they were dressed in the same attire as she was, except for the different colors.

 _Finally...people!_ she sighed to herself in relief. Getting on her tippy toes, she started waving her right arm, slightly cupping her left hand over her mouth.

"Excuse me!" she called out to them. "Do you happen to know where Amestris is?"

She got their attention right after she asked that question. Before her was a dark haired male teen, mostly likely in noble clan like she was, and two people in ninja-like outfits...more like bodyguard outfits.

However, they didn't turn their faces completely around. Chiui only saw half of the teen's face, and half of the masked bodyguards' faces from where she was. She didn't recognize the yellow-white flame patterned overshirt and sweat pants he was wearing, though. Same went with the bodyguards' ninja-like outfits that were under the dark cloaks the two of them were wearing. The dark-haired teen was wearing a light yellow cloak.

The said teen turned his face so he could look at Chiui and Chiui felt her heart start to race, and a sharp gasp almost left her throat. She didn't expect...to get this feeling when her red eyes met his. She could feel her cheeks flushing a rosy pigment.

"Yes. It is right across the desert, so we'll be there soon." he told her, and then tilted his head, confused at her expression. "Are you alright?"

Chiui blinked a couple of times, and looked away in embarrassment. "Y-Yes I am. My apologies..."

The noble teen laughed heartedly. "That's nothing to apologize about."

"Are you lost?" The first bodyguard asked Chiui, causing the teen to look at the older man.

Chiui shook her head. "No. I'm on a search to find my father and finally meet him. I haven't known him for my entire life, and would like to know where he's gone to. My mother said that he's a traveler, and Grandma Rai said that he's in Amestris, but I doubt that..."

The old bodyguard and the female bodyguard shared shocked glances. _This is the girl that is the daughter of the Emperor's Youngsen clan wife, Rin Youngsen, and that Ishvalan foreigner!_

The noble teen knew what they were thinking, and didn't seem to mind. They knew that the Emperor didn't approve of having grandchildren of mixed races, but didn't know that he had grown out of that prejudice.

"Well, you should come along with us." The dark-haired teen stuck out his hand after he stepped off his horse and was now standing in front of her.

Chiui felt her heart racing again as she took his hand, but the feeling quickly went away as the boy helped her up onto his horse.

"Where are you three going?" she asked curiously.

"We're on the search to find something to help Xing." The old man informed her. "We are the Young Lord's bodyguards, and are assisting him on the search."

Chiui guessed the Young Lord was the teen letting her assist them on their trip. She felt...honored and happy to be on their team for the time being.

The four continued on their trek for a while. It was silent except for the sounds of the horses' hooves walking on the soft, tan ground.

"Say, I forgot to ask your name." The teen turned towards Chiui. "What is it?"

Chiui felt her shyness and blushing coming again when Ling asked her that question. "Uh...it's Chiui. Chiui Youngsen. I'm the first Princess of the 14 Princes of the Youngsen clan."

"Interesting, and nice name." Ling smirked, causing Chiui's heart beat to increase.

"T-Thank you..." Chiui put a little smile on her face, and the female bodyguard felt a pang of jealousy. "...And what is your name?"

"Well, glad you asked!" Ling grinned. "I'm Ling Yao from the Yao clan. Nice to meet you."

Chiui's shyness faded. "Nice to meet you, too...Ling Yao."

They heard a slight growl coming from the female bodyguard, and shivers went down the medium-grey haired girl's spine when she noticed the girl was looking straight at her. Ling looked over at the said woman.

He reassured her that it's alright. "Chiui is not a threat, Lan Fan." Ling told her. "She's from a noble clan like mine and yours is."

 _I know, Young Lord..._ The raven-haired girl's eyebrow twitched as she looked away for a brief moment, _but something about this girl sets me off, and it's not about her race or about her clan..._

In a blink of an eye, Chiui saw a tiny, metal spear come flying towards her, but Ling stopped by raising up his hand. He caught it just in time.

Chiui gave Lan Fan a confused look, but she felt a bit of annoyance go through her. She didn't like Lan Fan's high strung attitude towards her...and she assumed it was for the other clans of Xing as well.

"Be nice to Chiui." Ling told Lan Fan, and glanced over at Chiui. He noticed that Chiui wanted to say something back to Lan Fan out of anger.

"Same goes for you, Chiui." he said to the Xingese/Ishvalan teen, in which he added a hopeful smile to it. "You two will get to know each other during the trek, and will hopefully become friends."

Chiui and Lan Fan glared at each other, then agreed to what Ling said, thus ending the conversation.

* * *

The temperature was warm in Rush Valley, where a young State Alchemist and his brother were walking down the said place. The young state Alchemist went by the name Edward Elric, and he was known by his height and alchemy. He had golden hair, with eyes that matched his hair color. He wore a short-sleeved black T-shirt, with dark pants. On his left arm was his automail, which Winry lost it about.

He had broken it once more, and Winry doesn't like it when that happens. Winry happened to be Ed's childhood friend, as well as Alphonse's.

Alphonse Elric is the young brother of the Elric family, and his soul was encased in a suit of armor. It is a long story of how that happened, and they are trying their best to forget it.

"Hey, big brother?" The 16-year old heard his brother ask him, which caused him to stop sipping at his orange drink and glance at his brother.

"What?" he asked back, walking towards Alphonse, not sounded all that enthusiastic, just curious. "Did you find a stray cat or something?" Ed hoped it was not, since Alphonse was known for his love of cats.

Alphonse had a confused look on his face, and shook his head. "Uh...no." he picked up an unconscious body, which happened to be Ling's, but he and Ed didn't know that. He then picked up another unconscious body that happened to be Chiui's; they didn't know that either.

Ed, shocked, spit out his drink to the side.

Ling was thanking Ed and Alphonse a lot after Alphonse and Ed payed for his food. Chiui wasn't really that hungry, so she got something small. She had fainted from the heat of the desert and lack of water, even though Fu and the other two had plenty of water to share with her. And speaking of "small", Ed got furious when Ling said not to worry about something "so small". Chiui was confused at first, but she assumed it was referencing to Ed's height.

Besides that, she thought that Ling fainted due to hunger, and seemed that she was right when she did a double take at his huge stack of dishes in front of him. Her jaw dropped open in surprise, but went back to normal when Ed asked where Ling and Chiui are from.

Ling grinned. "Well, glad you asked! We're from Xing!"

"Xing?" Ed raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Where's that?"

"It is from this place across the desert." Ling explained to him. "I came here because I am in alkahestry."

"Alkahestry?" It was Al's turn to ask.

"It is like alchemy here in Amestris," Chiui explained, "but it is slightly different. It centers on a concept called the 'Dragon's Pulse' which tells of the Earth itself having a constant flow of chi, or life energy. It's a lot to explain." she added a nervous laugh.

"What are your names, anyways?" Ed questioned them, since Alphonse seemed to be interested in the said topic Ling and Chiui told them about.

Ling smiled once more. "I'm Ling Yao. This here is Chiui." he nodded over to her, in which the Xingese/Amestrian teen waved shyly to the brothers.

"Oh, okay." Ed stood up, and him and Ling shook hands. "I'm Edward Elric, a State Alchemist. This is my brother, Alphonse Elric. Nice to meet you two!"

"Same here." Chiui said, and the four of them sat down again.

"So what are you two doing here in Amestris?" The gold-haired teen questioned them.

"Well, Chiui is here in search of her father, as far as I know." The dark-haired Prince replied. "She's helping us on our trip."

"So are you and Chiui alchemists?" Ed asked, in which he got a "No." from the both of them. He was surprised as well as Al. "So what are you here for, then, Ling?"

He became quiet for a moment, and had his hand clenched into a fist as he rested it against his cheek. The other hand was on the table.

"I suppose you two know about..." Ling's eyes suddenly opened, "The Philosopher's Stone?"

Ed and Al's eyes widened in shock. Chiui locked her red eyes on Ling's dark eyes, and noticed that seeing his slanted eyes suddenly open made her face turn red, so she looked away for a moment.

"Why do you want to search for that?" Ed asked him, a tad nervous.

"Family matters. Our Emperor is very ill, and it could help our country and other clans of Xing." Ling told them with a smirk on his face. "I'm very eager to find it, since I've also heard that it brings immortality."

"Well, we can't tell you about it, or help you find it." Alphonse spoke up. "There is a lot of dark secrets behind it."

"I figured that. Everything has a downfall to it." Ling told the suit of armor. "But I noticed something different about you two...that you know more than you let on."

"We said that we can't help you." Ed warned the Xingese Prince. "And that's final."

"So be it." Ling snapped his fingers, and Lan Fan and Fu appeared, startling the Elric brothers. Ed went to move, but he noticed that a short, metallic dagger was near his neck, so he froze. Alphonse noticed that Fu was behind him, and didn't move, either.

"What do you need that stone for?" Ed questioned Ling, since he was a bit fishy about Ling as well from the first minutes of their encounter.

Ling let out a limited laugh, and crossed his arms. "To gain immortality."

Everything became silent then. Ed glanced at the female bodyguard behind them, and then set his eyes back on the mysterious Prince. Chiui was sharing the same type of nervous glance, except it was first towards the Elric brothers, then towards Ling.

"Tell me everything about the stone." Ling spoke up. "Or you'll face against my bodyguards here."

"There's nothing we can tell you about the Philosopher's Stone!" The golden-haired Alchemist told Ling, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

So without any response from Ling, Ed and Al started fighting against Ling's bodyguards.

Chiui watched as Lan Fan and Ed were fighting, and went out of sight. Same went with Al and Fu.

"Ling." she spoke up, causing the Prince to look at her. "What exactly is the Philosopher's Stone?"

He gave that some thought, his eyes returning to their closed state. "The Philosopher's Stone was something created by a doctor during the War of Extermination, and it's mostly known for curing people with near-fatal injuries. But it is mostly known for the immortality it brings to the user."

A small smile tugged at the Xingese/Ishvalan girl's lips. "It sound awesome to have immortality."

Ling agreed in the same manner. "It sure does."

The two remained quiet until the fights between the bodyguards and the brothers ended. Chiui and Ling stood up, and the dark-haired Prince noticed that a buildings-actually, a few buildings,were destroyed in the process.

"Seems like they're done." he spoke up, with a hopeful smile on his face. Chiui assumed that the smile was directed towards Lan Fan and Fu, in which he knew that they were quite tough when it comes to fights. He started to make his way towards the destroyed buildings, which weren't really far away...just one or two miles from the table the group was sitting at.

So not wanting to be alone, confused about how the battles ended, Chiui decided to follow him.

When they got there, they noticed that Lan Fan was binded to a rope that was tied to a tall, broken piece of metal, and that her mask was gone. It revealed her dark eyes and hair, which was the same color as Ling's. She had a lighter Xingese tone than Ling did.

Fu, on the other hand, was tied with small pieces of metal that acted as a rope, and was sitting next to Alphonse. His mask was gone, too, and revealed his short, spiky, grey hair, slightly droopy grey mustache, and dark eyes. He didn't look too happy, and Lan Fan looked disappointed about being defeated.

Chiui noticed that Edward had his automail arm over his shoulder, and had overheard Lan Fan asking why Ed would sacrifice his arm in order to use it as a trick as she and Ling got to the scene. Ed had replied with a trick that he learned in the past. Chiui wasn't sure if she heard that right or not.

The golden-haired teen glanced over and noticed Ling and Chiui approaching.

Ling looked at Lan Fan, who said a small, "I'm sorry, Young Lord." in which Ling told her it was okay, and then at Fu. He then focused on Edward Elric.

"Well, it seems that you two are pretty good in terms of skills and attacks." Ling complimented. Ed didn't seem to accept it, though, since Chiui could see that one of his eyebrows was twitching in annoyance.

"How about you and I conquer this place, what do you say?" The Prince added a question.

"No way!" Edward replied, his tone increased with anger. "Go back to Xing!"

He then heard a masculine voice from the distance, and the color drained from his face when he saw a crowd of angry people before him. They told him that he had to pay a lot of money in order to fix the damage that he's done.

"Now, hey! Wait just a minute!" he stepped an inch or so back, and pointed at Ling with his normal arm. "He and these two are the reason why-"

"So sorry! I do not understand the language of this country!" The Xingese Prince said with half apologetic, half silly tone, as he did a weird dance, then ran backwards on his tippy toes. "Okay, bye bye now!"

"Come back here!" Ed called to him, his fist clenched.

But it was too late. Ling had already jumped over one of the debris of the buildings before Ed could say anything else.

Alphonse glanced over at where Fu was, and jumped with a gasp. "The bodyguard here is gone!"

Ed glanced over at where Lan Fan was, and his eyes widened. "The other one's gone too!" and then he looked over where Ling was. "And so is that girl that is assisting them."

He then exhaled, and then noticed that Alphonse clapped his hands. He asked if Alphonse knew alchemy now, and he replied with a yes. Ed didn't take it that well.

* * *

Garfiel, the tall, feminine-dressed man at Garfiel's-his workshop and his assistant's place to work at- helped fix tea for Chiui, since she decided to have some to pass the time.

It tasted familiar to her, and it reminded her of the tea her grandmother Rai used to make whenever Chiui was sick. The Xingese/Ishvalan girl smiled warmly.

She then noticed the two Elric brothers walk into the small building. Alphonse looked calm to Chiui, but she couldn't tell due to his blank, glowing eyes. Ed's was easier to tell by his frustrated look and his frown as he rested his broken automail arm over his shoulder.

"Hello!" Ling greeted them with a grin and one hand raised. "We meet again!"

There was a stretch of silence between the two teens, and Chiui wondered if Ed was going to say anything back to him. But she doubted that when Ed suddenly swung his broken metallic arm at Ling, hitting the Prince square on the forehead.

When Ling fell down, Chiui fretted that he was going to be knocked out from that attack. She let out a mental sigh of relief when he came back up a split second later. Chiui heard him mutter, "Well, that wasn't a cheerful response..."

"Cheerful response?" Ed got up in his face. "You wouldn't expect one from me because of your bodyguards. Those two didn't go easy!"

"Don't worry, I'll give them a talking to later." he assured him.

"The girl that you fought is named Lan Fan," he added, wanting to introduce them, "and the old man is Fu. Their clan has been serving my clan for generations."

Ed didn't say anything to that, and glanced at Ling. " You seem pretty rich if you have two bodyguards...besides leeching off of me for food. So who are you exactly, besides saying that your mission is to help the Emperor of Xing?"

"Well, I am a prince, after all." Ling shrugged.

A few seconds of silence emerged between the two Elric brothers as they pictured Ling in their heads. When a funny, majestic looking picture of Ling in a skipping pose and sparkles around him popped into their heads, they doubled over in laughter.

"...That wasn't the reaction I was expecting..." Ling said to himself as the laughter between the two brothers started dying out.

"S-Sorry..." Alphonse looked at Ling, adding a little laugh to it, "We...we just..."

"Can't believe...that you're really a Prince from Xing-"

His grin remained in place until a short metallic spear sped past him, hitting right into the wooden stand where Ed was sitting near. He opened his eyes and saw it, jumping in fear as a result. Al followed suit.

"Do not speak that way to Master Ling." they heard Lan Fan warn them. She was giving them a cold glare.

"Well, hello to you, too..." Ed muttered.

"...I'm guessing the word 'prince' doesn't mean much, since there's a lot of us princes." Ling spoke up.

He then went into detail about the Emperor, how he has to wed a woman from every 50 clans of Xing-including Chiui's, the Youngsen clan-and that he has to bear a child with each of them. And since Ling is fated to become the Emperor when he passes away from his sickness, Ling is expected to pass on the tradition.

Edward and Alphonse seemed to understand it. "But wouldn't there be any disputes over who becomes heir?" Al spoke up.

"We're working on that as you guys speak." Ling informed them, raising up a his index finger. "The Emperor, as I mentioned before, is in very poor health, and each clan is getting worked up to favor with him. This happens to be the best time to do so. Which is why I'm also-"

"Going to offer up immortality to gain his favor..." Ed finished the sentence for him.

"Correct!" Ling smiled. "So, won't you tell me? You know, information about the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Not happening." Ed closed his eyes, looking away. "The Philosopher's Stones are not be reckoned with, not to mention that it isn't a tool to be used for premonition!"

Ling got up, and leaned forwards towards Ed, giving him a wide bear hug. "If you don't tell me, I'll follow you forever!"

Ed wacked him multiple times with his broken metallic arm. "Don't!"

"I'm back!"

The golden haired 15-year old heard the familiar, feminine voice, and froze.

The group watched as Winry Rockbell, Garfiel's assistant and Ed's childhood friend, walked in. She was the one that got angry at Ed for breaking his automail earlier. Her long, blonde hair was in a high ponytail, with two big strands of it hanging down in front of her ears. She wore a black and white tank-top with brown baggy pants. A green bandanna was wrapped around the top of her head, and bounced as she walked in.

"I didn't expect there to be such a huge commotion on the main street, so I kind've got held up..."

Her voice trailed off when her blue eyes locked on Ed's broken arm in his hand.

All Chiui could hear then, was:

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!"

"Gah! I'm sorry!"

"Seriously! Every. Single Time!"

Chiui just stood there next to Ling as to not get in the way of the flying tools. Ling just had his arms crossed and had a huge smile on his face. The Xingese/Ishvalan girl gave him a confused look. _How can he be so happy at a time like this...?_

"Young Lord." Fu popped from out of nowhere, causing her to jump. Ling glanced at Fu, and nodded in response, letting the old bodyguard know that he'll be up there soon. He looked at Chiui and told her to stay here while he talks with Fu and Lan Fan.

Chiui watched as Ling went off, making his way upwards. She exhaled, and watched as Winry was busy repairing Ed's automail.

They were busy talking about Central and someone named ...and letting Winry off the hook so she can go with the Elric brothers to the said place.

This caused Chiui to perk up, her red eyes widened. "Did you guys say Central?"

The four of them looked at her. "Yes, why?" Winry asked her.

"Well, I've heard of the place, and have read about it many times in Xing." Chiui explained.

"You can go with them if you like, dearie." Mr. Garfiel assured the female teen.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Chiui smiled, raising up a hand to let him know so, "I'll just stay here with Ling and the other two. I'm helping assist them on their trek, after all. And while they are doing so, I am on the search to find my father."

"Who is your father?" Winry asked, suddenly curious.

The Ishvalan-skinned girl pursed her lips, her eyes averting from Winry's curious gaze. "I...I don't know yet. But my mother doesn't tell me anything, and neither does Grandma Rai. So that is why I am seeking out the truth to find him."

"Ah." Winry concluded the conversation at that. "And what is your name? I don't think I've seen you around here."

"Um..." Chiui felt her shyness emerge. "Chiui. Chiui Youngsen."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Chiui." Winry stuck out her hand. "The name's Winry Rockbell."

A warm smile tugged at Chiui's lips as she shook the Amestrian girl's hand. Chiui then stood up, looking towards the ceiling, wondering where Ling is.

"Oh, Central?" his head popped out from above the window, scaring both Ed and Al. "I wanna go!"

"You're not coming!" Ed snapped at him, and Chiui flinched at the volume of his yelling. _Man, he has strong lungs..._

 _But, besides that, that changed my mind about going with Ed and Winry..._ Chiui grinned, looking at the group, _Center-I mean Central, does sounds really fun. I can't wait!_

 _A/N: I didn't except this chapter to be so long! But at least it's finished now. ^^ Hope you guys like it :D_


	5. Onto Central!

Chiui, Ling, Edward, Winry, and Alphonse were on a train to Central. Chiui sat between Ed and Winry, because if she sat between Alphonse and Ling, she would've felt uncomfortable being squished.

The group was quiet for a while as Chiui was thinking about Central, and also gathering up her thoughts on what has happened recently.

She knew that Alphonse made a new mask for Lan Fan that was a duplicate of the one she had previously, but the female bodyguard disapproved of Ed's version by smacking him upside the head. Chiui could clearly tell that Ed's taste of design wasn't that good, since his version of the mask looked weird, not to mention tacky to Lan Fan.

Speaking of Lan Fan, Chiui wondered where she and Fu are. The last time she saw them was at 's place. _They must be somewhere around here...but I don't know that is, exactly..._

Ed had complained that he wasted a lot of time, thanks to Ling, but Ling seemed oblivious to it.

"So how old are you, Ling?" Edward questioned the Prince as he rested his automail on the arm of the seat, to get away from his complaint.

"Me?" Ling perked up. "I'm 15 years old. I believe Chiui's the same age as well."

The two teens and the suit of armor stared at him in shock. Chiui had guessed that Ling was young since he didn't sound at all like an adult.

"You're 15?!" Winry, Edward, and Alphonse exclaimed in shock.

"Well, it would be dangerous for a minor to travel alone. If I wasn't a minor, then it would be completely different."

Winry looked over at Ed, and whispered to him, "Hey, Ed. You're almost 16, right?"

The said teen realized this, and stood up, resting his arm on the arm of the seat to support his balance. "Stand up!" he told Ling, since he had an idea.

As Ling got out of his seat, Ed's eyes widened. He expected Ling to be the same height as him, but he was wrong. The Xingese Prince was taller than him by one foot.

The golden-haired teen growled, clenching his fists. Ling just looked at him, confused.

Edward jabbed a finger in his direction, his arm trembling with anger. "You have a freakish adult face!"

 _He changed the subject..._ Winry, Alphonse, and Chiui thought at the same time, letting out an exhale of comprehension. Even though Chiui doesn't know Ed that well just yet, she does know that he easily gets angry, even at people taller than him. He also got ticked off if he's called "small", or any word that associates with that.

A metallic part of a sword suddenly slipped into the train, almost touching Ed's head. He stumbled as a result, staring wide eyed at the the said weapon.

The sword quickly retreated, revealing a small hole in the roof and Lan Fan's cold glare at the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Don't you dare insult Lord Ling." she warned him, and Ed gulped.

 _This is the second time she's almost killed me..._ he thought. Alphonse looked up, just noticing Lan Fan there.

"Wait." Al noticed something. "They're on top of the train?"

"Isn't that dangerous?!" Chiui and Winry asked at the same time Al had spoken.

Edward wasn't happy with this. "So they think that they can hitch a free ride?" he went to yell for the conductor, but Ling stopped him, telling him that Lan Fan and Fu are fine where they are.

So the group sat back down in their seats, but Chiui was now sitting next to Edward, which means that Winry was on the left side of the said teen.

Ed glanced over at Chiui, noticing her skin tone and scar for the first time since he met her and the others.

 _She's Xingese_ and _Ishvalan?_ Ed wondered. _How...?_

He then noticed Chiui looking at him, confused and nervous, which was shown through her flustered expression. _Oops._

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Chiui exclaimed. If there was one thing that made her uneasy beside some people's personalities, it was being stared at.

She went to look away to hide her embarrassed face, but she heard Ed apologize. "I was actually wondering where you got that scar on the right side of your face from." he added afterwards.

Ed pointed to the said part of his face, in which Chiui did the same, but rested her hand on it instead.

"Oh, this?" she asked, sounding as if she never noticed it before, even though she did. "It's from skin discoloration. Mother and Grandma Rai have told me about this when I was younger and asked what it was from, but they didn't exactly tell me why I have it."

Ed nodded. "And did you happen to get any negative comments from people in Xing because of your scar?"

"Unfortunately, yes," The medium grey-haired girl glanced at the window once more. "I was bullied and glared at due to my scar. It was horrible, and it really brought me down. But at least my mother, grandmother, and half-brother, Yosung, were there to save me, and kept me from getting bullied again...so at least those negative days are over."

She had smiled at the end of her sentence to show her relief of the said events, but there was a hint of sadness Ed noticed in the expression, though Chiui tried her best to hide it the best she could.

During the rest of the train ride, the Xingese/Ishvalan girl stared out the window, looking at the rushing scenery before her as she thought about home. She didn't like seeing Rai, Rin, and Yosung worried when she told them where she was going. She was heartbroken seeing them that way, and would've liked Yosung to come with her...but as she had stated...he couldn't come due to needing to help out his ill father and also his siblings, and it might be too dangerous for a 13 year old to explore across the desert. She felt like going back, to not choose to find her father, but she knew it was too late. She will have to go with her decision and stick with it.

They finally came into Central, getting of the train ride. Chiui took in the scenery as they did so. The train station wasn't like anything she had seen before in Xing. There was a flood of people coming in and out, and there were signs everywhere to direct them where to go. But what fascinated Chiui the most was the trains, including the one she went on. _They don't have those in Xing._ she thought.

"Say, where's the Prince?" she heard Edward ask, and went to turn around to see where Ling is. Her jaw dropped open when she noticed that he was gone.

Lan Fan and Fu were on all fours in regret when they realized this, too. "He's gone again..." they muttered to themselves.

They then started calling out the Prince's name in hopes of him returning, but seemed to fail. "Oh dear..." Lan Fan remorsed, the light in her dark eyes shaking. "If he's gotten himself into trouble again, we're going to be in hot water for sure..."

Chiui felt the same way as Lan Fan did, so she got an idea. "I'll go find him!" she declared, and was off before Lan Fan and Fu could stop her.

"Let's hope that she doesn't get lost as well." Even though she and Chiui were high-strung about each other, she was still worried about the 1st Princess of the Youngsen clan getting lost while finding the Prince.

Fu didn't have anything to say to that, but he agreed with Lan Fan.

Chiui went this way and that down the streets of Central as she was trying to find Ling. She felt like it took forever until she looked up, seeing a masculine figure with a yellow overcoat, sweat pants, and dark hair, standing on top of a building, looking out into the horizon.

"Ling!" she called out, knowing that was definitely him, and she didn't have to ask his name like she did with other people. She tended to forget people's names often due to her poor memory, but she's managed to remember the group's names.

The Xingese Prince looked at her. "Why are you up there?" she questioned him. "Did you find something that got your interest?"

It took a while for the dark-haired teen to respond. "No. It's just that...something doesn't seem right about this place...I can sense it. But I can't quite put my finger on it."

He then leapt off of the building, a ring of dust emerging from beneath his feet as he did so. It quickly subsided when he stood up.

"Anyways, we should be heading back to the train station." he told her, and the two set off.

Ling and Chiui were walking for about ten minutes when they turned a corner.

"I believe that I came from here and-" he didn't finish his sentence, due to him suddenly losing consciousness, collapsing onto the ground, face-first.

A group of military men were approaching, and Chiui happened to see them coming when she looked up. She noticed that they were probably from here in Central because of the blue and gold military uniforms. Some of the men wore caps.

"Is this guy alright?" One of the men asked to the others. He wore a cap, but underneath was very short chestnut hair, a matching mustache, and wide blue eyes.

"I think he fainted from hunger..." one of the other men answered, though he wasn't really sure.

The man that asked the question shrugged, getting down on both knees and looking at Ling. Ling seemed to have regained consciousness when the man asked where the teen was from. "From Xing, huh?" the man repeated the word, in which Ling nodded.

"Do you have your passport?" he gave Ling another question in which the teen froze. Ling thought these the military men were ninjas, and felt relieved. But an army of sweat ran down his face, showing that he didn't know that he needed a passport.

"No, he doesn't," Chiui answered for him without realizing it. "And neither do I."

"And neither do you?" That question from the man asking Ling made Chiui feel the same way he was feeling right now. "Alright, come with us."

The military men grabbed Ling and Chiui by the arms, and started dragging them to the jail station.

The medium grey-haired teen glared at the Xingese Prince, thinking, _Why did I even open up my mouth...?_

"Nothing to see here." The man told citizens that were watching what was going on. "Illegal immigrants passing through."

Chiui thought she didn't hear it right. _Wait...i-illegal immigrants? What for...?_

Meanwhile, in a different part of Central, at the military building, Edward, Winry, and Alphonse came across a blonde-haired woman with her hair tied back into a tight ponytail with a hair clip. She was wearing a military uniform like the others with her, and had a clipboard in her hands.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" The woman seemed to notice Ed when he said her name.

"Are you and Alphonse doing well?" she questioned them as they approached.

"Yup." The golden-haired teen replied with a smile. "Same as always."

"Hey! That's the lady I met before!" Winry's blue eyes widened.

Hawkeye noticed her, and a smile appeared on her face. "You're the girl from Risembool. You've gotten so pretty!" she complimented.

"And you've grown your hair out, Ms. Liza." The blonde teen remarked back.

Alphonse and Ed just looked at each other, confused, wondering how Riza and Winry knew each other.

"Wait a minute!" Ed had come to a conclusion, but it wasn't about Riza and Winry's meeting. "If the Lieutenant's here, then that means-"

As if on cue, he heard a car screech to a halt, and the door soon closing afterwards. When the teen turned to see who it was, he wasn't happy.

It was Colonel Mustang, otherwise known as Roy. He had a white skin tone like Riza did, but had short dark hair, with short spiky bangs that separated in the middle-causing some to go to the left, and the others to go the right-and slightly slanted eyes that supported the same color. He wore a military uniform like Riza did, but what contrasted them was the gloves Roy was wearing.

The gloves were white, with the Flame Alchemist symbol on them. The symbol consisted of two triangles: one that was upside down and had a line and circle on it, and the other one was right side up and had a little flame at the tip. Both of the triangles overlapped each other. A lizard seemed to be walking under the right side up triangle, trying to move around it. Behind the said shapes were two double circles.

"Hello, Fullmetal." he greeted Edward Elric, with no grin on his face.

Ed looked shocked, and looked away, resting a hand on his head. _What is_ he _doing here?!_ he thought as his eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

After Roy told them that he was recently transferred to Central, he asked what brings Ed and his brother here.

"Oh, we're doing some research on the Philosopher's Stone and the Homunculi." he replied.

"Homunculi?" Roy gave him a confused look as he put his arms into his coat. "What are you, stupid? You know the rules. 'No Alchemist shall attempt to create a human being.' You think that the military would leave information like that lying around?"

Ed gritted his teeth. "Yeah...well..." his eyes suddenly widened when he remembered something. "Oh, and one more thing. We thought we'd visit Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. How's he doing?"

Roy had just finished putting on his coat when Ed asked that chilling question, causing him to freeze.

The dark-haired Colonel gave him a surprised, yet terrified look as he turned to Ed. The golden-haired teen was confused at his sudden change in expression.

"He's gone." Roy told him. "He...moved back to the countryside. Things have been getting dangerous here lately, so he took his wife and kid, and moved back into the country. He's going to take over the family business. You won't find him here."

"Really?" Ed fixed some of his hair into the back with his gloved hand. "That's too bad."

"Being a solider is a serious profession." Alphonse added. Winry expressed that she really wanted to see him.

"Oh, Colonel. I forgot to mention something."

The Lieutenant and Colonel's eyes widened. "And what might that be, Fullmetal?"

"Well, have you heard of a Xingese/Ishvalan girl named Chiui Youngsen?"

 _A Xingese/Ishvalan girl?_ Roy wondered. "No I haven't. Why?"

"Just wondering." Ed and the others started walking away. "But it's very rare for those two races to mix."

The teens said goodbye to the military adults, leaving Roy to think about Chiui for a brief moment. _Yes, it's very rare indeed..._

Chiui wasn't very happy about being arrested, and had her arms crossed. The metal jail tags she had on her right wrist jingled as she turned to face Ling, who was complaining about the said tags.

"I don't like wearing these."

"Stop complaining." The guard told him with a irritated look on his face. "A stray dog needs a collar." he then looked down at the paper he was writing on with a pen. "Okay. You say your name is Ling Yao, and you, young lady," he directed that at Chiui, "say that you're Chiui Youngsen."

Ling nodded. "Where are you and this Youngsen girl from?" the guard asked.

"Xing." Ling and Chiui replied at the same time.

"How old are you two?"

"We're both 15 years old." Ling replied to this one.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" the guard snapped, causing Chiui to flinch.

He then resumed to drilling them with questions. "How many people did you come with? What route did you take here? Why are you here?"

This questions ran through Chiui's head, she couldn't answer them all at once. But Ling had already told the guard, and they were basically the truth.

The military guard went to add something else, but opened one eye when he heard a thrashing sound from the hallway. He stood up with a jolt. "What in the world...?"

He saw another military guard arrive, with this one having a cap on. "What's going on!?" he asked him.

"Some crazy armor-wearing guy has broken into the building!" the capped military guard announced. "We need your help!"

"Armor?" The military guard with Ling Yao and Chiui repeated the word.

Chiui tried her best to look through the jail bars to see who exactly broke in. All she saw was a tall, round suit of armor making its way down the hallway. Its face looked like that of a canine's, with the mouth being shaped like a male lion's, but longer. There was a big hole in the head where the armor might have been shot at, or possibly damaged at. Its eyes, unlike Alphonse's, glew white instead of fuchsia. It had white hair growing out of the head of the armor, and had gloves on its hands. He had a huge cutting knife in his hand. He also had a half of a coat with a fur collar on his right side.

Chills ran up Chiui's spine, and she quickly retreated from the idea of seeing that suit of armor in the first place. Ling looked at her, confused.

"What is it?" Ling asked her. "Is something wrong?"

"No..." her voice was shaky as she was in the corner, sitting down and hugging her knees close to her chest. _I just wish that I didn't open my mouth so the both of us wouldn't get arrested..._ she thought aside.

Chiui could hear gun shots being fired, and them bouncing off of the suit of armor.

"Is that all you guys got?" the suit of armor yelled at them. "You guys are weak!"

Its head was suddenly shot off, but it easily put it back on. "Not good enough!"

The guard and the military guard screamed, and ended up getting knocked out by the edge of the suit of armor's knife.

"It's no fun when you can't chop them up." it sighed. "I just gotta hurry up and do what I came to do and..."

"Hey, big guy."

The suit of armor became distracted when he heard the voice and noticed a black-haired teen waving towards it.

"Be a pal and let me out, 'kay?" The Xingese Prince grinned.

"Huh? Who are you?" the suit of armor questioned him angrily, not happy that he was taken away from his main task.

"Just an innocent traveler from Xing." Ling answered with a matching innocent tone.

"S-Same here..." Chiui answered, her voice still shaky. The suit of armor looked at her, and she jumped. She decided to stand up and stand next to Ling Yao.

"Xing, eh?" The suit of armor didn't seem surprised. "You two have come a long way, then."

"However," it added, " I ain't got time to be messing with you."

"Aw, please?!" Ling pleaded. "If we don't get out of here, we'll be deported!"

"Why should I care?" the suit of armor shrugged, and starting walking off. "Later, chump."

The Xingese Prince remained quiet for a few seconds, and soon came up with an idea. "If you get us out, I'll make it worth your while..."

The suit of armor stopped, and turned towards him. "Where'd you say yer from?"

Ling grinned, relieved that the plan he's thinking up of worked. "The Eastern Kingdom of Xing."

Chiui hid behind the Prince when she heard the suit of armor slice the lock in half with a _**SNAP!**_

"Come with me!" it demanded. "Hurry up!"

"Oh, thanks!" said the Prince cheerfully, doing as the suit of armor told him to do. Chiui decided to follow as well.

The three of them were walking for a few minutes or so when the suit of armor noticed a room labeled, "Confiscation". With one strong kick, he opened the door, which slammed loudly against the wall.

As they walked through the room, Ling scanned the perimeter with his eyes, looking for something in particular. "Uh...Hey! My sword!"

He found a small-handled, but very thick metallic and sharp sword, which had a cloth wrapped around it. He went to grab it, but the suit of armor beat him to it instead.

"Hey!" it sounded impressed as the cloth on the sword easily came off. "That's good quality steel."

"But it's _mine_ -"

"Just shut up and come on." the suit of armor interrupted, leaving the room.

Meanwhile, in another room, a young, slender woman with short, dark hair, blue eyes, and a beauty mark on the left side of her face, could hear the commotion going on. She stood up from her bed and walked over to the front of her jail cell, putting her hands on the bars so she could look outside into the hallway.

 _What's going on...?_ she wondered, but didn't have to wonder for long.

She heard something approaching, and the color drained from her face.

"Hello there, honey!" the suit of armor greeted her, wearing a sinister look on his face. "I've finally found you!"

The two Xingese teens finally caught up, and overheard 66-Chiui saw its name on the top right side of his head- and the woman talking about someone named Maria Ross...and something to do with Lieutenant Colonel Hughe's murder.

Chiui didn't know who that was, but was devestated to hear about his murder. Deaths didn't usually occur in Chiui's family, but they've happened often in the other clans.

"I know that you aren't a killer. Your eyes prove that." 66 then found a newspaper on the table in Maria's jail cell, and put it in front of her face.

Maria went to say, "Of course! If they do a proper investigation-" but then she saw the main headline of the newspaper. "I was convicted?! Wait a minute. They haven't even allowed me to make my-"

"Now that they've got you framed, they'll skip the trial and go straight to the firing squad." The suit of armor told her. "I doubt you'll even make it to sundown."

Maria's voice was shaky as her eyes were glued to the paper. "How...could something like this..."

"Choose!" 66 was getting impatient, which was shown by him stabbing the piece of paper with Ling's sword. "You can either let them execute you for nothin'...or you can escape! Your call!"

The dark-haired woman exhaled in frustration, resting a hand on her forehead. " Th...This is the most difficult decision I've ever had to make in my life."

66 told her that he'll think it over, but it seemed that Ling was pointing to something outside. " I really don't think there's time for that. The backup is here."

"You heard him!" 66 faced Maria. "If you don't make up your mind, I'm gonna slice you up right now."

"It sounds like I don't have much of a choice!" The former 2nd Lieutenant told him, then rested both of her hands this time on her forehead. " _Aww, geez!_ Mom, Dad, I'm sorry!"

She then turned to the suit of armor, tears emerging at the bottom of her eyelids. "Fine! I'll be a fugitive. That's what you want, right?! Escort me out of here, you boneheaded freak!"

66 chuckled. "I like your attitude! Let's go."

The four of them then left, and Maria slapped her hands onto her face, regretting how she was acting. "Women have got to be strong!"

66 agreed, and Chiui started to feel bad for Maria. She knew that people in her clan, which included the Princes, have been tried for things they didn't do, and it was most likely the corrupt people in their Xingese politics, but the corrupt people have already been dealt with, so politics is flowing nicely now.

"Yes." The chief of the prison told a person on the other line, probably one of the guards that was knocked out. "Yes. I see."

He then hung up the phone, and stayed standing with his back facing the two guards at the double doors. "Maria Ross has escaped from the detention center in the Western Sector. Her companions are believed to be armed and dangerous."

He then faced the guards. "If they resist, shoot to kill."

Roy heard the last three words, and had his hands folded and rested on his chin. "Lieutenant."

"Sir?" Riza replied as the Colonel stood up and opened up one of his drawers in his desk.

"I'm going out for a minute. Take care of things while I'm gone."

And with that last sentence, Roy took out his Flame Alchemy gloves and closed the drawer. He then left the room.

"Hey...how much further do we have to go?!" Maria asked 66 as the group of four dashed down the streets.

"Just keep running!" 66 told her. "Hurry!"

All of a sudden, when the four of them turned a corner, they ran right into Edward and Alphonse.

"2nd Lieutenant Ross!" The Elric brothers both exclaimed, at the same time Maria did the same: "Edward and Alphonse?!"

"Huh?" 66 was confused, and looked at Ed and Al.

"Hey it's you!" Alphonse and 66 said the same time pointing at each other.

"What!? You know him!?" Ed asked the taller suit of armor.

"Ling and Chiui, too?!" Al pointed towards them.

"Who, me?" Ling replied back in response, acting oblivious. Chiui gave him a glare.

The dark-haired former 2nd Lieutenant was speechless as commotion went on between the suits of armor and Ed, which mostly consisted of what they were doing here, and how they'd like to ask the same thing.

Soon enough, 66 attempted at swinging Ling's sword downwards at Al's arm. "Don't get in my way!" he growled, and Al dodged the attack just in time.

"Lt. Ross, what's going on?!" The golden-haired older brother yelled at her. "Did you kill Lt. Colonel Hughes?"

Maria went to say something, but was nervous to speak. She could see that 66 was standing in front of her, protecting her with Ling's sword and his own knife.

"Hurry!" 66 demanded. "If the military police show up, they'll shoot you!"

That message clearly went through Maria's head, making her more nerve-stricken than usual.

"I'm sorry, Edward!" she told Ed as she dashed away from them with Ling, Chiui,and 66. "I'll explain it to you later!"

"Wait a sec-" Ed went to call Maria, but dodged a sudden swing directed his way. "Whoa!"

They then saw 66 swinging Ling's sword and his knife like crazy. "Don't come any closer!" he warned. "I ain't got time to be messing with you guys!"

Ed started to get irritated. "Why, you-"

Al looked in the direction Maria was running. "Lieutenant!" he called out. "2nd Lt. Ross!"

Meanwhile, Riza got a call from somewhere. "Hello?"

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!" a masculine voice replied on the other line.

"Warrant Officer Falman?" Riza recognized the voice immediately.

"I'm very sorry. The prisoner escaped!" Falman apologized while rubbing his head in pain. 66 had used the phone to knock him out. "Is the Colonel...?"

"The Colonel is out on personal business." The blonde-haired woman replied. "He won't be returning for a while."

"Maria Ross, I presume?" Roy spoke up when he finally encountered the former Lieutenant, who had ran right into a dead end.

Maria was shocked by the angered look Roy had on her face as his coat blew in the wind.

Without another word from the either of them, the Colonel lifted up his hand, snapping his fingers. A fire ignited from them, thus causing a huge explosion.

66, Ling, Chiui, Edward, and Alphonse happened to hear it from where they were at.

 _Oh no..._ Chiui thought. _It can't be..._

Ed dashed off after muttering something under his breath. 66 went to say something, but saw a punch coming in his direction from Alphonse, ducking it just in time.

"I told you, I ain't got time for this!" 66 growled, and started running away. "Let's go, Xingy Boy!"

"Yup yup!" Ling replied nonchalantly, but stopped when he saw that Chiui wanting to run and find Maria, afraid that Maria would've been done for. He grabbed her by the arm. "There's no saving her, Chiui. We need to go."

And with that, the three started running away.

"Hey!" Alphonse called out towards the Xingese Prince. "Ling! What are you doing with a guy like that?!"

Ling just smiled at him and waved, still holding onto the Xingese/Ishvalan girl's arm as the trio left their sight.

"Aw, geez!" The suit of armor complained, dashing back to catch up with his brother, who was running towards the explosion.

All Chiui could hear then was Ed yelling at somebody, saying such things as: "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!? Explain yourself!", why was Lieutenant Hughes killed, and why Maria Ross was accused of being the killer of the deceased man...and was now dead.

She truly felt sorry for Edward, for him being in that situation, and couldn't even imagine being in his shoes at that moment. It was tragic for him, for a close friend of his-in fact, two close friends of his- to be killed.

More words came out of Ed's throat in a sharp, raised voice as he demanded the Colonel to tell him, in which the Colonel punched him in the face. Ed went to send a punch in return, but Alphonse stopped him just in time. Alphonse ended up asking the same questions, but with a more calm, and more concerned voice.

66 muttered something under his breath as the trio was now on a roof on one of the buildings on the right of the passageway. "This wasn't part of the plan!"

Ling and Chiui looked at him. "What do we do now?" The dark-haired Prince questioned the round suit of armor.

"The military coppers are onto us." he explained. "We got no choice but to run. Let's go."

And with that, 66 and the two Xingese teens left the scene.


	6. Prison Break

**This chapter will most likely be based on Volume 9, chapter 36 in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga. I am saying this due to the previous chapter (Chapter 4: Onto Central!) being based off of volume 8 of the FMA manga, due to me not being able to base it on Episode 17 of FMA: Brotherhood.**

 **So, enjoy!**

 **...**

"You idiot!" Falman, the grey-haired Warrant Officer from before, yelled at Barry the Chopper...whose name Chiui thought was 66. "Don't you know what could've happened if they caught you out there!?"

Barry was busy sharpening his knife with a wood block on the table. He turned to Falman after he finished. "Don't sweat it, bub. Nobody saw me comin' back here."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Falman's voice rose sharply, but it didn't seem that the suit of armor heard him. He seemed to be focused on something outside.

"Hey!" Barry pointed towards the outside of the building, where Ling and Chiui were sitting in front of a small brick with a heater on top of it. "What're you doing?"

"Making smoke signals." The Xingese Prince replied happily, waving a thin piece of wood in his hands in order to create the said substance so it can subside into the air, "And breakfast."

Barry looked confused. "Smoke signals?"

"What in the world were you thinking when you brought those two strangers here!?" Falman directed the question at the suit of armor, jabbing a finger in Ling's direction. He then clenched his fists. "What's the point of us hiding out here if you're just going to-"

Just then, they heard feet hit against the roof above t hem, and then two figures landing onto the ground to the left of the Xingese teenagers. The said figures were Lan Fan and Fu.

"Prince!" The old bodyguard told the Prince. "We've been looking all over for you!"

Ling saw them while tearing off a piece of smoked fish with his teeth. "Hey, that was fast."

Ling had given Chiui one of the fish to eat, but she wasn't really hungry. So she had dismissed Ling's offer politely.

"Now, there's **more** of them." Barry pointed towards the Xingese group, with his hands on his hips.

This only made Falman more frustrated than ever.

Ed went to knock on the door of Winry's room, but his golden eyes were glued to his clenched fist.

A lot of thoughts were going through his mind. Why was Maria Ross the killer of Maes Hughes, and why did Roy have to kill her due to her running away, when she had no other choice? And most of all, how was he going to break this to Winry?

After all, she really wanted to visit him. The last time the blonde met Hughes was when she was staying for a while during Elicia's birthday party. Elicia was Hughes' 3 year old daughter.

With a sigh, he knocked on the door once. "Winry." He spoke up, and got no answer. So he tried again. "Winry...?"

Still no answer. "I wonder if she went out."

"Let's go to our room and wait for her to come back." Al announced, and started to walk away. Ed didn't seem to want to go to their room, so he got out the key to Winry's room to unlock the door, but was shocked to see that it was open.

"Hey—" he went to say, but then noticed something. "Oh no! I left the door unlocked."

"Nothing was stolen, right?" Alphonse wondered, and the two brothers looked around. Ed then noticed something missing on the table that was there before, and it immediately hit him.

"...It's gone!" Edward exclaimed. There was newspaper about Hughes's death in the newspaper, which was about Maria being the possible killer.

"Huh?!" Alphonse was shocked.

Ed slumped down on the couch, resting a hand on his forehead in regret. "I'm such an idiot! Winry..."

Meanwhile, Winry was looking around for Gracia, Maes Hughes's wife. A nearby shopper, with a basket on her arm, directed her to where it was, and the blonde teenager thanked her.

Winry reached the house, and rested her hand on the handle, knocking it against the door twice. She was silent for a moment, and her eyebrows were creased down in sorrow. She then could hear footsteps approaching, and saw a little girl at the door.

It was Elicia, and she looked a lot like her mother. She had a dress on, and usually wore her hair in pigtails.

"Papa!" she exclaimed, her face beaming with joy.

"Oh..." Winry had expected Gracia to answer the door, and Elicia had expected her father to be at the door.

Noticing the teen, however, Elicia immediately became saddened and hugged the bottom of Winry's legs.

"What is it, Elicia?" A woman's voice spoke up as she approached the door. "Do we have guests...?" Her eyes widened when she noticed the teen. "Winry!"

"Gracia..." Winry sounded relieved to see her, but the upside down smile she had on her face expressed the same type of emotion Hughes's wife was feeling right now. Gracia gave Winry a warm smile, and offered her to sit somewhere.

At the hotel, Ed waited on the couch, with his hands under his chin. Alphonse was at the door, waiting as well. They were expecting Winry to come back, and still thought so when they heard a knock at the door. Ed's golden eyes widened.

"Win...ry?" he went to say as he and Alphonse barged the door open, only to come across a worker at the hotel. They caused the worker to jump in shock.

"M... ..." the worker spoke up, "You have a phone call at the front desk."

"Yes. Uh-huh." Gracia told the golden-haired teen on the other line. "Winry mentioned that she came here with you. She's feeling really down. I think you should come and pick her up."

There was a brief silence. "We're on Mayflower Street and..."

"Yes." Ed replied. "I see. Thank you for taking care of her. I'll be right there." And after that, he hung up.

"So?" The suit of armor asked his older brother. "Where is she?"

"At the Hughes's house." he replied. "Remember Gracia? She saw us off at the train station the last time we left Central."

"Are you going?" Alphonse questioned him.

"Uh-huh. And I'm going to speak to her honestly about everything."

Alphonse knew what he meant. "I'm coming with you." he announced, with determination in his voice.

"No way." Ed declined. "One person getting chewed out is enough."

"That isn't just **_your_** , brother." Alphonse reminded him, feeling guilty. "It's **_both of ours_**. I have to go, too."

"Hey, Al, if—" Ed went to say, but Al stopped him with an "Uh-huh."

"If it means other people will get hurt, I don't want my original body back. I know I said that I'd get my original body back, no matter what...but if people are going to die because of me... I'd rather stay in this body forever."

And with that, they set off to Gracia's house.

When they got there, she immediately recognized them, and let them inside.

"I already told you!" Barry explained to Ling, Chiui, and Lan Fan. "The researchers who put me in this body are dead so I don't know nothin' about immortality or anything like that."

The group was sitting inside of the room Barry and Falman are hiding in. All four of them were sitting Indian style.

"Oh, come on!" The Xingese Prince complained. "We had a deal! I helped you back at the prison!"

"And I busted you out, so we're even." Barry added.

Ling became a tad irritated. "That's not what I mean. You know, to the East...?"

"Oh yeah..." The round suit of armor remembered that. "Well, what do we do now?"

He then remembered something. "Oh, yeah! You're friends with that Alphonse guy, right? He's got a body similar to mine—you should ask him."

"That's right!" Ling agreed happily. "The armor guy!"

Ling, his female bodyguard, and Chiui got up, and started walking towards the door. He then faced Lan Fan. "All right, I'm stepping out for a minute!" he announced. "If anything happens, make sure to send me a signal, Lan Fan."

Lan Fan nodded. "Yes, sir." she the faced Chiui. "You should go with him."

"Why would you want me to?" The Xingese-Ishvalan girl looked shocked that Lan Fan would ask that. "I got the both of us arrested due to me wandering off and me finally finding him—"

"Just go." Lan Fan interrupted her, and Chiui gave her a glare due to that. The female bodyguard gave her a glare back, thus ending the conversation. The door then slammed behind Chiui, which didn't make the Xingese girl flinch at all.

"See you later!" Barry waved them goodbye, which caused an uproar from the grey-haired Officer.

"Hey! Explain to me what's going on!"

"Aw, give it a rest." The former killer told him. "You're just a pitiful solider who is threatened by a prison break suspect and locked up in some rundown apartment."

Falman didn't seem to get it, which was expressed by a "Huh?" He then turned to look at Lan Fan, who just flat out ignored him.

"I'm in charge here, right?" The officer wondered. "...Right?"

"Sure you are." Barry told him in the background.

Back at the apartment, Edward was laying down the bed closest to the window. He had a hand rested on the right cheek of his face, staring outside while Winry was cleaning up the scratches Al got on his armor.

Edward had explained all about what happened to Hughes, and why he stuck his neck into what the Elric brothers were researching. Gracia agreed that Maes always liked to help people out, thus the reason why he always got the short end of the stick. But the wife of the former military member told them that if the brothers stop researching about the Stone, then her husband's life would've been in vain. So they assured them to keep on doing what they're doing.

But the one thing that pained Ed the most was seeing the chestnut-haired woman crying as he, Winry, and Alphonse was leaving, and Elicia was trying her best to cheer her mother up.

"So...what are you going to do now?" Winry turned towards Ed, who began looking at his automail hand.

"What should I do?" he questioned her, then rotated so that he was facing her and resting on his back. "What do _you_ want me to do?"

The blonde girl looked at him once more, with a confused look on her face, which caused the golden-haired teen's eyebrows to crease with the same expression. "What is it?"

"It's just..." she began, but had to gather up more words before she continued, "you guys have never asked me for advice before."

"...That's true." Ed agreed, now facing the ceiling.

His childhood friend looked uneasy as she tried to think up what else to say to him. "...I was scared." she spoke up, resting her hand on Alphonse. "When I thought about how you and Al have been battling in a situation where even someone like got killed...it made me really scared."

"I mean, you guys could actually die on this mission." she continued. "You might walk away and I'd never see you again. When I thought about that, I was terrified. It made me wish that you'd stop traveling. But when Al said that he'd give up on getting his former body back...I knew that...I didn't want him to give up."

She then concluded it with those being her honest feelings as she went back to cleaning up Alphonse's armor. "I wanted you to regain your original bodies, but I also want you to stop this dangerous journey." she added. "And uh...I'm sorry. I guess I don't know what I really want."

"Winry, you're so nice."

"Huh!?" The teen exclaimed at Alphonse's compliment. "Wh-wh-what are you talking about!?"

Edward was silent as commotion between the two of them occurred in the background, which ended up with Winry whacking Alphonse, causing him to become more dented that he was before.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, which stopped the dialogue right in its tracks. Ed went to the door and opened it.

"Hi, can I help you...?" Edward went to say, but didn't finish the sentence. He saw a tall, built figure with only one blond curl on top of his forehead for hair at the door, his fist back, ready to punch the teen.

 **THWACK!**

Ed skidded across the ground as a result, leaving Winry and Al speechless for a moment.

"What was _that_ for, Major!?" Ed asked the figure with a sharp voice. The figure's name was Major Armstrong.

"Oh, dear!" Armstrong exclaimed, picking up Ed by the collar. He then patted Ed's automail arm. "Your automail is broken! This is bad!"

With a huff, he put the Fullmetal Alchemist back down on the floor, now patting him on the shoulders. "This is a grave situation!" Armstrong declared. "You must be repaired immediately! I shall accompany you to Resembool!"

"Huh?" Edward was completely confused. "I've got Winry here, so I don't need to go all the way back there..."

"No need to hold back on my account!" The Major interrupted.

Ed turned towards Alphonse. "Uh-huh. Al, listen..." But that made Armstrong notice the suit of armor at the door with Winry.

"You stand out too much so you should stay here." Armstrong told him before Al could get a word in. And before he knew it, his older brother was being dragged across the floor by the Major.

"We must make reservations immediately!" he declared, "Let's go, Edward Elric!"

Alphonse and Winry just stared in amazement as they watched the two leave in such an odd manner.

"Are they leaving?" Ling popped out of nowhere, scaring the living daylights out of the female teen and the suit of armor.

"L...Ling!?" Alphonse pointed towards him, his arm trembling, "How did you-!?"

"Through the window." Ling replied straight out, pointing to the obviously open window in the room. "As a state alchemist, I knew that he'd be staying at a military-run hotel, so I just checked all of them."

"But did you have to sneak in through the window!?" Al questioned with an annoyed tone.

When they entered the room, Winry and Alphonse saw Chiui on the bed, almost out of breath.

"Chiui's here, too?" Winry didn't know that. _It seems that she has to follow him everywhere, it seems..._ she thought aside.

"Yup." Ling replied. "I had to carry her up here while running up the wall."

"I told you before that I'm afraid of heights!" Chiui reminded him. "Also, you weren't really carrying me! You had me over your shoulder, so I was looking down at the ground and almost freaked out-"

Ling raised a hand, stopping Chiui's sentence right away. "But of course we had to sneak in through the window!" he replied to Alphonse's question. "Plus, Chiui and I are both illegal aliens, and we both broke out of prison."

 _Don't act so proud..._ Al thought. "What have you been up to since we last saw you?"

"I heard about all your adventures from Barry the Chopper." Ling explained with a smirk on his lips. "It's quite a mess you've gotten yourselves into!"

Winry and Alphonse gave him surprised looks.

Meanwhile, Roy was on the phone, talking to some girl on the phone. It was through military lines, however, which he didn't mind, but it was against policy to use those lines for personal matters.

The officers working in the same office with him, on the other hand, were irritated, and felt like Maes's way of talking on the phone and always bringing up his family might've rubbed off on the Flame Colonel.

"Okay, I'll drop by your store tommorow." he replied. "Do you want me to bring you anything?"

"Oh, my, thank you!" A supposed feminine voice responded on the other line. "Can you bring something for Kate, too? That girl's been working so hard-" something seemed to get the person's attention. "Oh, excuse me for a moment, Roy."

There was a slight pause as Roy waited.

"Kate! We have a customer!" the person called to Kate on the other line, in which Kate replied with a "Yes, m'am."

"Could you call Jacqueline for me?" The person questioned Kate, who was really Fuery.

"Jacqueline." Kate did so to a armed figure in the darkness on her line. "You have a _customer._ "

"Affirmative." the person replied, reading their gun.

At the abandoned apartment, Barry and Lan Fan felt an aura pass by...or in this case, somebody or something's presence.

Falman had seen the two of them standing up, with the both of them scanning the room with their eyes.

"What's wrong?" the officer questioned Barry.

"I got a chill." he replied, not looking at him.

" _How?_ " Falman questioned, his tone showing bafflement on the first word. "You don't even have a physical body."

He then stopped for a moment and sniffed the air. "What's that smell...?"

He quickly turned around, and came face to face with a scraggly-looking man. His arms and legs were muscular, but the sleeves on his shirt and shorts were torn up. Claw-like fingernails replaced the usual fingernails a human would have. He wore a mask over his eyes, and there were holes in the top part and sides of the mask where nails were put into them...and only two at the top, left side, and right side, stuck out.

Once the unknown man roared animalistically, Falman got out his gun out. But before he could do so, Barry stopped him from doing so, thus blocking the man's sudden attack towards the officer with his butcher knife. A bullet that Falman was going to fire with his gun ending up hitting an unused can, making a hole in it.

"...Barry!?" Falman was shocked, but still held the gun in his hands.

"Relax, Falman." Barry told him, keeping a hold on the feral man's arm, which was trembling. "Don't-" he took a moment to swing his knife towards the man, in which the man dodged the attack. "...Kill this guy!"

Falman muttered something under his breath as he rushed to the door, opening it. "What is going on?" he wondered.

He saw Lan Fan there, looking around for something, possibly other auras.

"Hey!" he yelled towards her. "Cover me!"

No answer came from the bodyguard, so Falman tried again. "Hey!"

"He isn't the only intruder." Lan Fan spoke up, her dark eyes still scanning the place.

"There's _more_?!" Falman didn't like the sound of that.

All of a sudden, Barry and the feral man came tumbling through, fighting each other. Falman fired another shot out of shock, in which the bullet hit the ceiling. Seeing the feral man, he shot at it, twice.

"I told you not to shoot him!" Barry reminded him, irritated at the feral man, and not at Falman.

"I can't hit him anyway!" Falman had his eyes on the man. "He's too fast!" he then looked at Lan Fan, over his shoulder. "How many are there?"

"Ten, twenty, no more than that." the female teen replied.

The officer gritted his teeth. "You've **_got_** to be kidding!"

"I'm running out of bullets!" Falman added in complaint. "If they rush us, we're done for!"

"Don't worry. They're clustered in one location and don't seem to be moving." Barry reassured him.

Falman sighed. "Yeah. Well, we have to do something about Gorilla guy here..."

He jumped at two hasty, loud knocks. "Oh no! They're here!" he then rested his back against a wall closest to the door. "I thought you said they weren't moving!"

Before the grey-haired officer could do anything, bullet holes pierced the doorknob, and the door was forced open by a single kick from a figure from outside. He was armed, and the mask he wore over his face only showed his eyes, which were a light blue. Unlike Falman, he had two guns in his hands, which showed that he was already prepared.

The figure fired a couple bullets at the feral man, in which all of them missed. The feral man had ran against the wall to dodge them.

"Are you on our side?" Lan Fan asked the figure, in which it nodded.

"Very well." she added, leaving with one single leap, surprising both the unknown, armed man and Falman. "I'll leave this to you."

After the Xingese bodyguard left their sight, the armed figure kept on firing at the feral person before it and Falman. Falman smelled something, in which he recognized it immediately.

 _Smells like a smoker..._ he concluded. "2nd ?" he guessed, in which the figure froze in response.

"What do you think this mask is for, a fashion statement?!" Havoc yelled, still firing at the unknown man. "Jeez! This is why I hate working with amateurs who haven't seen real combat!"

"Oh!" The officer quickly saluted, "Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!"

"Sorry we had to keep you in the dark." The 2nd Lieutenant apologized while the feral man and Barry continued fighting in the background. "We couldn't risk them finding out that we were setting a trap."

"Where have you been hiding out!?"

Havoc peeked out from the door and aimed his gun at the feral creature Barry was fighting. "Next door!" he replied to Falman. "We moved in during Barry's prison break three days ago."

"I had to come straight here after work." he added. "I had to cancel my date for this job! If I get dumped again, I'm filing for workman's comp!"

"Barry!" the suit of armor heard Havoc call his name, but just then, the feral creature tackled Barry against the wall.

"Whoa!" Barry exclaimed, and his glowing eyes widened when he saw the feral creature grabbing onto his right arm, proceeding to tear it apart. But when the man got closer, Barry became confused when he noticed the breath expelling from him.

 _This guy is...?_

But before he could conclude who it was, Havoc kicked at the feral man. "Why, you!" he then looked at the suit of armor. "Outside! Now!"

Barry was set off. "A...Alright."

"But there might be more of them outside! We'll be safer here!" Havoc told him.

The trio then headed outside, opening the door. Havoc pointed one of his guns towards the entrance, and one towards the scenery outside, scaring a passerby.

"Huh?" Havoc noticed something when he picked up a scent coming from the feral creature, who had disappeared from their sight for a moment. "What's with that guy's body odor...?"

The said figure appeared right in front of him, using his hand to land onto the ground. "Whoa!" Havoc exclaimed, and the creature let out a loud animal cry.

Havoc shot at the man, who dodged them easily. "My nose is gonna fall off!" Havoc complained due to the smell getting stronger by the minute.

But when he went to fire another shot, the gun refused to shoot. _It's jammed!_ he panicked.

His blue eyes set on the feral man in front of him, who was getting ready to slash at him.

"Lieutenant!" Falman called out, but something pierced the creature's palm of his right hand, and then his foot.

Thrown off by the gunshots, the feral man tumbled to the ground, crashing right into the garbage that was set against the brick wall.

"Relax." Havoc reassured Falman. "I told you we were safer out here."

He nodded towards a tower a few feet behind one of the buildings. The feral creature held his wrist in pain as blood spewed out of it, yelling in the process.

"We have the Hawk's Eye watching over us."

Up in that tower was Riza Hawkeye, and she was armed with a rifle of some sort. She was the one that fired the shots, injuring the target.

"I heard a loud noise." Roy said on the other line, which Riza heard through her headphones. "What happened?"

"Nothing to worry about." Riza assured him , focusing on the feral man with one eye closed. "The customer was being mean to Jacqueline so I had to **_slap_** him."

Roy smiled with a knowing sigh. "You're as strict as ever...Elizabeth."


	7. Signal to Strike

"Your shop seems busy." Roy added. "Should I hang up?"

"That's all right." Riza replied, but still had her eyes focused on the feral creature. "You seem busy, too."

"Not really." he had to let a small laugh out. "I can take it easy thanks to my capable subordinate."

Fuery was on the other line with Riza, controlling the machines in a hidden part of the building that allowed the two miltiary members to communicate and use their code names. "That's the most words I've ever heard your owner say, boy." he said to Hayate, the 2nd Lieutenant's puppy that she adopted.

Outside, Jean had his gun pointed at the feral creature, who was still holding hand in pain. It wasn't bleeding, but had a wound left from the gunshots.

"All right," Jean spoke up. "Don't move...actually..." he was having second thoughts, "Can this guy even understand words?"

"Hey!" Barry spoke up. "What in the world!? I mean...no way!"

"THAT'S MY BODY!" he suddenly shouted, pointing his fingers in the direction of the feral creature, which received a "What!?" from both Falman and the male 2nd Lieutenant.

"The scientists put the soul of some lab animal in my body!" The suit of armor could tell that the two military men didn't know what he meant.

"Wh...What do you mean?" The grey-haired man asked.

"It's not complicated." Barry told him. "My body came to get its soul back."

Havoc's eyebrows twitched due to feeling nervous, and was also starting to feel unsure about what was going on. "Wh...What are we gonna do?"

"That's my body!" The suit of armor repeated that sentence for the second time. "Don't you know what that means?"

"Yeah...I see...if that's your body, than you might be able to return to normal." Falman hypothesized.

"No, you dumbass!" the suit of armor's voice rose frustratingly. "It means... I can cut up my own body with my own two hands!" a maniacal laughter escaped his mouth. "How many people get the chance to slice and dice their own bodies!?"

Havoc and Falman were speechless as they both gave Barry weird looks.

Barry then brought up something from the past, about the first victim of his being his wife. "I'm getting the same chills down my spine as I did back then! I can't stop myself!" it almost sounded if he was speaking nonsense. "You know what I mean, right!? You've had the urge, haven't you!?"

"No!" Havoc yelled towards him. "Anyway, isn't it natural to want to return to your original body!?"

The excitement that was rushing through the suit of armor vanished as he looked at his former body. A new expression, one of sorrow, was laden on his face. "...That body won't last much longer."

Something tickled at Falman's throat, causing him to cough. "So that stench that I've been smelling is..."

"No, Barry!" Havoc rejected what Barry was thinking, since he could tell. "I won't allow you to cut it up."

"Why not!?" Barry complained. "It's my body! It's up to me to decide how I dispose of my body!"

"No!" The armored Lieutenant repeated the word once more. "We have our own agenda!"

"What's going on?" Roy asked Riza on the other line.

"...It looks like an argument." The female 2nd Lieutenant spoke up. "She's having trouble with the customer.

"Some customers just don't appreciate good service."

"Tell me about it..." Riza acknowledged with a sigh, but then something got her attention. "Uh oh. I'll have to call you back. One of my regulars is here."

With a rapid movement so she was facing opposite from where she was, she sent a shot directly at the round figure that had approached her from the darkness.

She readied her gun as dust subsided from the shot, but looked stunned when blood dripped from the wound on the forehead, but the wound was quickly regenerating by itself.

"What's wrong?" Roy's voice escalated in concern through Riza's headphones, which dropped when she fired the shot at the figure now glooming above her.

He noticed that she wasn't responding. "Hey! Elizabeth! Pick up!"

Roy suddenly got flashabcks of when his best friend, Hughes, was murdered, and had a gut feeling that this was happening to Riza as well. Slamming the phone back into its receiver, he rushed to his car.

A skinny, but somewhat muscular person was standing near top of another building. He had dark green hair, which stood up like a palm tree. He had pale skin and lavender eyes. The headband he was wearing around the top of his forehead was black, and had a circle-cornered triangle symbol on on it. The rest of his clothing, which consisted of a skin tight chest top and shorts were somewhat hidden by the robe he wore draped on his shoulders. The ankle coverings and gloves were exposed.

He had noticed a figure standing before him, which happened to be Ling's bodyguard, Lan Fan.

"...Who are you?" the person looked confused, but had a smirk on his face to go along with it. "How did you know I was here?"

"First, you tell me..." Lan Fan began. "How many souls do you have inside you?"

The person's eyes widened in shock as he stood up, slowly. As he did so, the clothing mentioned from before was in full view.

"...I just came to keep an eye on things, but...you leave me no choice."

As he said this, his smirk from before became more sinister as what looked like red sparks appeared near his eyes. "Too bad. I really hate fighting."

Battle instincts kicked in for the female bodyguard, and she snapped the top off of a flare signal with her teeth, soon throwing it high into the air.

As Roy rushed down the streets, he happened to see the light from the signal ignite in the sky. It only added to his angst and anger.

"Dammit!" He muttered that word under his breath. "Please let me make it in time!"

"Are you serious?" Alphonse asked Ling after Ling explained why Major Armstrong took Edward. "So that's why the Major took my big brother!?" he then exhaled in frustration, resting a hand on his armored head. "Why didn't anyone tell me!?"

"Hey." Ling said aside as he noticed something outside the window. Chiui noticed it as well."Oh my, oh my. It's already begun."

"What is it?" Chiui and Winry asked in unison, and Winry asked separately, "Fireworks?"

"Not exactly." Ling replied, putting on his shoes. Chiui just realized that Ling had his shoes off the whole time he was in the room.

He then turned towards the window, sending a grin in the blonde girl and suit of armor's direction. "It's the signal to strike!" he then added, "Are you coming?"

A moment of silence stretched between Alphonse and Ling. The Xingese/Ishvalan girl looked at the Xingese Prince, then at Ed's younger brother.

"This might lead us to the person who killed ." Al spoke up. "If we're even partially responsible for his death...then I think that we need to see this through to the end."

"So you're going?" Winry had come to a conclusion in her mind to what Al was saying.

"Yeah." The suit of armor nodded.

The automail mechanic grew nervous. "When you come back, you have to tell me everything that happened, 'kay?"

Alphonse knew why she was worried; Winry wanted to make sure that Alphonse came back safely without any harm happening to him, and the same went with Edward. Winry would've felt guilt if something did happen to the two brothers. "Okay."

"You'll come back..." she began, but caught herself. She pursed her lips, "Whatever happens, you'll come back, won't you?"

"Yeah." Alphonse sounded joyful, as to lessen Winry's concern so Winry won't get that stressed about them. "I promise!"

Ling, Edward, and Chiui started leaving. Chiui went with them since she didn't have much of a choice. She had to stay with Ling or his bodyguards until she finds her father.

"So, where are we heading now?" she directed the question towards the dark-haired teen.

He looked at her, "We're going to be heading to where Lan Fan is. She used the signal, and I am pretty sure something has happened. We need to hurry!"

Their regular, casual stride transitioned to a quicker pace as he said this. Hearing Ling use his female bodyguard's name made Chiui wonder about her. She knew that she and Lan Fan are not on good terms yet, but Lan Fan seems to trust Chiui with the Prince, even though Chiui had caused both her and Ling to get arrested. This baffled the mixed race girl.

Probably because she doesn't want us bickering around the Prince or arguing about the affairs of Xing...she concluded, but she didn't know for sure.

Envy, the name of the villain, was on the ground, his back against the crumbled rocky surface under him. He had a a metallic spear in his head where Lan Fan stabbed him.

A growl emanated from his throat as he got up, instantly going into a dash. He took out the metallic spear in the process, in which the wound started to heal itself.

"You bastard!" he yelled. "That's three times you've killed me!"

He muttered words to himself as he was heading towards a nearby town, soon hidden in the crowd. He set his lavender eyes on a regular passerby, soon transitioning into a man with short brown hair, blue eyes, casual clothing, and a tan jacket.

Now in complete disguise, he soon found Lan Fan, who was scanning the perimeter to find him. There you are!

He expected the bodyguard to not turn around so he could stab her with her own weapon, but he was wrong. Once he saw a glare directed at him from the Xingese girl, she sent a metallic spear at his chest, causing blood to spew out.

"Darn!" Envy growled as he had transitioned back into his normal form, and landed somewhere against the building where Riza was at.

The 2nd Lieutenant was saved by Fuery and Hayate, and then Roy just in time as the other homunculus, Gluttony, was about to let his victory get to him...which was to devour Riza.

Envy happened to see the rounder homunculus falling down the building, causing debris to fly downwards as he did so.

"Gluttony!" he yelled towards him. "Get over here and give me a..hand..." Envy's eyes soon widened in horror as Gluttony's body landed right on him, causing him to fall right off where he was at on the building. The skinny villain yelled an elongated "No!" in response.

"You idiot!" The Palm Tree gritted his teeth as he got off of Gluttony. "This is no time to let yourself get roasted like a pig!"

He turned, and started running on all fours, soon transforming into a dog. All right! Time for a change of plans-

But he didn't make it far. Lan Fan was looming over him, reading to send another metallic spear at him.

"There is no use in changing your shape." she told him, and Envy immediately felt frightened at how she knew that.

He started backing up slowly, but a clank made him stop in his tracks. Looking up, he saw Alphonse, Ling, and Chiui, who looked larger to him due to his recent form. Whaaat?! he exclaimed.

Before he could do anything else, the metallic spear that Lan Fan was holding in her hand stabbed Envy smack dab in his right eye, and another one in on the same side, but on his forehead, causing him to transform back into normal once more.

The dark-haired Prince, the suit of armor, and the Xingese/Ishvalan girl looked shocked as Envy was now on his knees, having one hand on the ground for support, and the other hand on his healing eye.

"What..." Chiui began, "What just happened...?"

Alphonse then noticed a strange-looking tattoo on the upper part on one of Envy's thighs, which looked like a creature with wings about to eat its own tail...but there was a star-like symbol in the middle of it.

The Ouroburos tattoo!

"Why you..." Envy growled animalistically as his eye and part of his forehead continued to recover, with more red, electric sparks appearing by the minute. "I'll...kill...I'll DESTROY you!"

Ling noticed something. "You're a little different on the inside, aren't you?"

This made the Palm Tree freeze for a moment. Apparently, the male teen had hit a nerve, but that didn't last for long.

"Great, just great." the villain complained as he got up. "More people I have to wipe out. You're really making things difficult!"

Gluttony appeared out of nowhere with a shoom. "Here I am!" he then noticed the group as he was now standing behind the shorter Homunculus. "Hey, Envy, can I eat these guys?"

The round Homunculus stuck out his toungue, and chills went up Chiui's spine. He had the same Ouroburos tattoo like Envy did.

Envy liked the sound of what his sidekick just said. "Go ahead!" he jabbed his index finger at the group, wearing a sinister smile on his lips. "Eat them whole!"

"Aw, man!" Ling frowned in complaint, "Another crazy one."

"Actually, your Highness," Lan Fan said aside, catching his attention. Chiui listened in.

The Xingese royal teens shared a whispered conversation for a brief moment.

"What? He won't stay dead even if you kill him?" Ling didn't like the sound of that, but one thing caught his attention. "Does that mean he's..."

...Immortal!? Ling and Lan Fan turned towards Gluttony with eerie looks on their faces, and for some odd reason, Ling's teeth were sharper.

Chiui couldn't blame Gluttony, to be honest. Those faces creeped her out as well. I won't have good luck sleeping tonight...she shuddered.

"Who the heck was that fat guy...?" Fuery wondered, with Hayate by his side. The little Husky puppy wasn't sure, either.

"Why did you come here, sir!?" he heard Riza suddenly raise her voice at the Colonel, causing him to jump.

"Our lives are insignificant, sir!" she continued. "If you just let us die here, you could have pleaded ignorance of this affair. But now you've outed to yourself to the enemy! Sir, are you a total idiot !?"

Roy had one ear closed with one of his fingers. "Okay, okay, I get it! I'm an idiot!"

Fuery then looked away from the scolding, and his eyes set on something. "Hey!" he grabbed something to look further into it. "Our target is moving, sir!"

This got Roy's attention, which caused him to look in the same direction Fuery was looking at.

"...Okay. Good." Roy spoke up after he saw Barry chasing after his body. "The 'nest' is clear. Sgt. Major, began recovery!" Roy gave Fuery an order. "Don't leave even a scrap of trash behind!"

The dark-haired young man replied with a "Yes, sir!"

Riza added with an order for Hayate. "Hayate, don't leave his side!"

The puppy woofed in response.

"Lieutenant!" The Flame Colonel spoke up as he and the female solider made their way down the stairs in a rush.

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm glad you're alive." he replied, not turning to face her, since his focus was mainly on getting down the said object.

Riza nodded. "I'm sorry to have worried you, sir."

The two finally exited the building and immediately jumped into the Colonel's car. A few minutes on the road and the two came across Lt. Havoc and Warrant Officer Falman. He stopped the car immediately.

"Where's our target!?" he yelled towards Havoc, who was getting ready to go with the Colonel.

"Barry's pursuing him." The man replied. "Please hurry, sir."

Roy then set his attention on the officer. "Falman, if anyone asks, you were being held captive by the one behind the prison attack! Play the victim!"

"Yes, sir!"

"We'll pursue the target!" Roy informed the two men as he started up the car, but someone yelling "Colonel!" stopped him from doing so.

"Alphonse?" Falman looked confused as Ed's younger brother caught up with the car. "What are you doing here?"

He ignored the officer's question, and instead directed the question he had in his head towards the Colonel. "This has something to do with Mr. Hughe's murder, doesn't it?"

A silent communication happened between the two of them; Roy knew what he was talking about.

"...Well, are you coming or not?" Roy's tone had a little bit of impatience to it.

"Yes, sir!" the suit of armor replied hurriedly, and immediately got into the automobile.

Roy happened to see Barry still going after the target, and slowed the speed of his car so it went with the pace the round suit of armor was going at.

"Don't let him get out of your sights!" he reminded Barry.

"You don't got to ask me twice." Barry reminded Roy back. "No matter where he runs, I'll find him!" a short amount of laughter escaped from him. "My soul's getting so wound up, I can hardly stand it!"

Alphonse didn't know he was squishing Havoc in the car, so he scooted to the left so the male 2nd Lieutenant could have more room.

"He's heading for the center of the city." Riza notified the Colonel as she rearranged the bullets in her guns.

"Not good." Roy didn't sound pleased. "I don't want him drawing too much attention."

Alphonse was quiet for a moment until something hit him. "Colonel!" he spoke up. "A moment ago, I saw someone...with long black hair and an Ouroboros Tattoo. I've seen this person once before, at Laboratory No.5." he took a minute to collect his thoughts on the person he described. "Went by the name 'Envy'."

"When my brother and I were in the South, we met another person with that tattoo named 'Greed'." he added after a pause. "He was a homunculus."

The Colonel veered the car too far to the left in response, causing it to hit right into Barry, who screamed in response.

"You trying to kill me!?" he gave Roy a frightened look.

"Excuse me." Roy apologized, then put his attention back on Alphonse as he straightened his driving. "Wait! Did you say a homunculus ? That's im-"

" 'Nothing...is impossible." Alphonse recited a quote. "That's what Greed told me. Just minutes ago I watched Envy transform from a dog into a person. I would have thought that was impossible if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Both of them have amazing regenerative abilities. Greed had half of his head blown off, and it was back to normal in no time."

He then exhaled to catch his breath. "...But I guess there's no way that you'll believe me."

"I believe you." Riza spoke up. "That fat man... I plugged him with shot after shot in his vital areas, but it didn't even faze him. He must be one of them, too." As she said this, she grabbed a strap to hold her guns.

"What can I say?" Roy gritted his teeth as a few beads of sweat ran down his face. "I've seen so many freaks lately, I don't know what to believe!"

Lan Fan was still busy fighting Envy, who grabbed the tie at the middle of her outfit. Lan Fan was taken by surprise until a sword flew out of nowhere, stabbing Envy in his side. He looked down, seeing blood dripping down from where he was hit at. The female bodyguard saw this as an opportunity to strike, taking a hold of the sword, slicing Envy's side again as she took out the sword. The same crimson liquid spewed out of the wound that was already there, and also out of Envy's mouth.

"Lan Fan!"

The female bodyguard heard her Prince calling her, and happened to see Ling and Chiui running away from Gluttony,who had his mouth open, revealing his Ouroburos Tattoo on his tongue.

"Quick! Toss me my sword!Please!"

"Prince!" she immediately threw the sword towards him, and he grabbed it just in time. He then turned around and bent forwards, allowing Gluttony to run towards him still. But the sword cut cleanly through Gluttony, slicing him in half.

Blood spewed out of Gluttony as this happened, but then he just put himself back together again like a German Kinder chocolate egg.

Ling exhaled, his eyebrows furrowing down in irritation, though it looked like he was more bored than anything else. "This is really getting old. Can we just skip to the part where you guys surrender? I promise that nothing will happen to you."

Envy spit out some blood before he got up, completely recovered. He didn't say anything due to hearing a crowd from behind the rubble talking about what was going on.

"Well lookie here, Gluttony." he said in annoyance. "We've got an audience!"

"Can I have a bite?" The round Homunculus asked. "Huh? Huh?"

"No." Envy used that word boldly. "You can swallow them whole."

Gluttony was quiet for a moment, but then grinned deviously.

"Those spectators...the Easterners...and anyone else who's seen us...devour them all!"

"What are you doing?" a child's voice broke through the Palm Tree's demand, causing Envy's eyes to widen.

Lan Fan's eyes widened, and Ling opened up one eye in response. Chiui just stood there, confused.

"Pride!?" Envy recognized the voice all too well. "What are you doing here!?"

"Not only did you fail in your mission and disgrace yourselves for all to see...but you let the enemy slip right into our headquarters."

"Headquarters...!" Envy was shocked.

"Your mind is muddled, Envy. And your skills lacking."

"But-" Pride was having none of Envy's back talking.

"Silence, you impudent brat! Do you plan to disgrace yourself even further!?" Pride warned him, and Envy slid his teeth together in response.

"Tch!" He then turned towards his round sidekick. "Let's go, Gluttony."

As he and Gluttony went to leave the side, he stopped, picking up his robe that came off of him during the fight. "Hey." he directed towards Ling and the rest of the Xingese group, turning to face the Prince. "You narrowly escaped death today."

"You think so?" he smirked, resting his sword on his shoulder. "I wouldn't assume that till we battle!"

After Envy went off with a "Hmph!" with Gluttony, the two Homunculi left the Xingese teens' sight.

Silence fell onto the group until sweat started running down Ling's face like crazy, causing his eyes to open wide.

"GAAH!" he yelled. "What the heck was that!?" He scared Lan Fan and Chiui doing so.

"Prince!" Lan Fan started. "Please forgive me. I've let the key to immortality get away."

"Don't sweat it, Lan Fan." Ling smiled. "I don't know what they're plotting, but there's more to them than we've seen so far. Plus, I think they have some more comrades, so we really did narrowly escape death."

"Truly," he added, using the back of his arm to wipe the sweat off his face, "There are a lot of interesting people in this country!"

A day has passed, and Ed still hasn't come back yet from wherever he was. However, Alphonse was back at the hotel where Winry was staying, and he was pretty banged up. His lower jaw was missing, and his arm had fallen off due to a Homunculus, Lust's attack.

Roy had taken care of the Homunculus, though, since she had injured Havoc when they encountered her in the abandoned No.3 lab, and also caused a wound to emerge in Roy's waist with her very long, cutting-edge nails. After the mission, Roy and Havoc were sent to the hospital, and Roy told Riza that she shouldn't have let her emotions get to her, because Lust played the 2nd Lieutnenant's mind, making her believe that the male 2nd Lieutenant and Colonel were dead. Riza had apologized, but they found out that due to the attack, Havoc's legs were paralyzed for good...so he might have to end up retiring. But they eventually found Barry's former self in the lab that he had escaped into, but as for the round suit of armor himself, he was reunited with his body in heaven after the claws of it scratched the alchemy circle on a broken piece of the armor.

But when Al got back to the hotel, Winry put a cloth to hide his broken jaw, and another one held by wires to support his broken arm.

This is what Alphonse informed Winry about when he got there. And he was surprised to see that the Xingese group, except Fu for the time being, were back. Lan Fan was sitting next to Ling, and Chiui was sitting next to her.

"What?!" Ling looked shocked, and Chiui did too. "You can continue to function without food or sleep?!"

"Yup," replied Alphonse, "as long as this seal remains unscathed."

"That's amazing!" The Xingese Prince couldn't help but grin at this fascinating discovery. "You're literally immortal!"

"But, how is that possible, Alphonse?" Chiui spoke up. "There must be a reason why you have a seal to keep you alive and so your soul doesn't disappear from you."

"I don't want to talk about that." the suit of armor's voice had become solemn and concerned. "But that is not true, Ling."

This caused surprise and confusion to raise from the group.

"My body is almost like a bomb." Alphonse explained, causing Winry to become baffled at this. "I heard it from Barry. It's impossible to place a soul that doesn't belong on a body. If you force a soul on to one, it'll eventually be rejected. Whether that will be tomorrow or ten years later...even I don't know."

His blonde-haired, childhood friend couldn't believe this. "No way...then you have to find a way to get your original body back as soon as possible!"

"Wait," Ling spoke up, causing Winry to look at him. "If your body starts to deteriorate, can't you transfer your soul on to something else and continue to live?"

"Or is that not possible?" Chiui added, curious about this, though she felt the same way Winry was feeling right now.

"But either way," Ling went around her question and continued his. "If you do that, you can stay the way you are. Without feeling pain or needing to eat! What a convenient body!"

However, the Prince and the other two really didn't understand due to how Alphonse's eyes closed, and Winry's expression deepened into a knowing expression. She knew Alphonse better than these three did, and knew that it was impossible for Al to jump to another body.

"Of course it's not convenient!" she suddenly stood up, her voice sharp and her fists clenched. "You don't even know anything!"

An stretch of silence happened between her and Ling, and Winry realized what she had said towards the Prince was uncalled for, because of her anger towards what Ling had said...though he really didn't mean to do any harm by those words.

She looked at Alphonse with a regretful emotion. "Sorry..." she apologized, and made her way to the door.

"Winry!" Alphonse's eyes opened, glowing, as he heard her open the door, and shut it behind her.

Winry had collapsed onto her bed, on her stomach, her face covered by her arms. She hadn't been there for long, but she soon heard a knock at the door.

"Winry?" It was Alphonse with Chiui, who wanted to see how Winry was doing as well. Chiui didn't like seeing his best friend acting like this, and wanted to do anything to comfort her. After a brief silence, he added, "I'm coming in, and so is Chiui."

No answer.

"I don't think she's there, Alphonse." Chiui went to tell him, but he had already opened the door. Winry didn't even stir.

Alphonse saw her on the bed, and walked up towards her, his armor creaking as he did so. Chiui decided to wait at the door, wondering how this is going to go for Ed's younger brother.

"Geez..." Al exhaled knowingly, resting a hand on his hip."You and Brother always get mad before I ever can, so I never get to."

Winry finally looked up at him with a solemn expression on her face. "It's because..."

She didn't have to say anymore; Alphonse knew what she meant. Those two words that failed to turn into a complete sentence reminded them of a flashback into the past, when Alphonse found out he couldn't sleep in his new body...or in better words, suit of armor. Winry was younger at the same, around age 11 or 12. She had happened to be awake and see Alphonse sitting down near the window, the light beaming down on him from outside,the rest of it spilling onto the floor. And that was when the flashback ended.

Chiui was obviously confused by this, since she is used to sentences being finished. Otherwise, if she knew these two longer than just a few days, she would've understood better how the two friends were feeling right now.

"You'll be able to return to your old body, right?" Winry was sitting up now, covering her face with a pillow to hide her emotions from Alphonse and the Xingese/Ishvalan girl. Another pillow was rested on her lap.

She hugged the pillow closer to her for comfort, to try to get rid of the lingering question in the sky that made her worry so. "...Right?"

Alphonse didn't respond. He really didn't know what to do now...now that he has told them that his life as a soul in a suit of armor might not be all joyful and peaceful, that it might come to an end when he least expects it.

The noble teen couldn't take hearing that anymore, it only made her mournful by the minute. By hearing it, she could fully get why Al and Ed were on this journey...to get their original bodies back. It was blind to her from the beginning, but she now had a gut feeling that it was about someone they loved...someone that they loved dearly. And she knew it was awful for Ed and Al to go through a hard time like that.

Alphonse noticed that tears were starting to fall down Chiui's face as Chiui looked down at the floor, crossing her arms as she closed her eyes, allowing the tears to flow easier.

Oh no... Alphonse thought. "Chiui, don't cry, too!"

Ed was in a different place that he didn't recognize, but the main thing in this weird realm was chasing the light that had taken his brother with it.

"Give me back my brother's body!" he told the light hurriedly, reaching out his hand towards it. "He...He's the only family I got!"

The light that he was chasing so frantically after suddenly changed into a silouhette, but it was white and glowing radiantly. "Give it back?"

Ed stopped in his tracks, and stepped back an inch in shock. "What-are-you talking about?"

This only caused the silouhette to chuckle delightfully. "You're the one that put your brother in this state. Alchemist."

A sharp gasp released from Ed's throat as his frightened frown grew bigger, and his eyes widened.

"That's right." he heard a different voice say this time, and turned around to see who it was.

Before him was someone from his past, a few months ago, named Shou Tucker. He was the crazy Alchemist that had turned his own daughter and dog into a Chimera, and it made Ed sick to his stomach.

"You and I are the same." Shou declared. "Edward Elric!"

Dark matter in the shape of hands started descending, reaching for the golden-haired teen as the insane man said this.

"And..." Shou Tucker left the word hanging in the air on purpose so Ed could see Nina...silent and not moving.

He went to walk towards her, but the dark matter hands stopped him from doing so. A hand brushed against his cheek, causing his eyes to lock on it.

"Edward...don't leave me like this..."

The hand soon covered his mouth as it turned his head towards a corpse...a corpse too familiar for him to simply not forget.

Ed woke up from his dream with a jolt, his eyes widening. He stood up in his bed, combing back strands of his hair away from his eyes. He had his hair down, which he usually does when he is sleeping. He clutched the bed sheet tightly with his other hand.

"Ed?" Pinako, Winry's grandmother called out. "Are you still asleep? Your dad's about to leave."

The teen was glad that it was all just a dream. Wiping sweat away from his forehead, he sighed, getting up from his bed. He then rubbed his eyes a bit with one arm.

Outside, in the living room, an older man with the same hair and eye color as Ed's was observing the photos on the wall. He went by the name Hohenhiem. The photos consisted of Ed, Al, and Winry when they were kids, and when Pinako met the man a long time ago. But one photo caught his eye.

It was of Ed and Al, with their deceased mother, Trisha. Hohenhiem was in the picture as well, holding the grinning younger Ed, but Hohenhiem's face was hided by a photo above it.

"Can I take this?" he rested his fingers on it, lifting it up slightly. "It's the only one that has all four of us."

"Help yourself." Pinako told him; she didn't seem to mind.

"Thanks." Hohenhiem took off of the pin that held the photo. After he removed the photo, he put the pin back where it was, and then put the photo into one of his coat pockets.

He proceeded towards the door, "As a token of my gratitude, I'll tell you something." Light soon filled the room as he opened it.

"Hm?" Pinako was confused.

"Something terrible will happen this country soon." he told her. "Flee to another country."

The old Rockbell shrugged, she wasn't surprised. "That's not uncommon here. And besides, there are kids that call this place home."

A long silence stretched between the adults as Hohenheim's eyebrows furrowed solemnly. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

And with that, he was off. Pinako's eyes widened behind her round glasses, and she hurried to the front porch of her house.

"Hohenheim." she spoke up, causing him to look at her. "Come back every now and then for a meal, won't you?"

The old man turned back around, and just waved that off as he started walking away.

"It's a shame, Pinako, that I won't be able to eat your cooking anymore."

Ed watched his father leave through the window, and had a disappointed look on his face. He didn't like how his father left the house. It reminded him of when Hohenhiem left him, Al, and their mother when Ed was around 4 years old, and said that he had to leave. It broke their hearts.

I don't think Hohenheim still remembers that... Ed thought. Or if he did, he's certainly not showing it...

Back at the hotel, Chiui was now sitting outside of Winry's bedroom; it seemed that Winry was alright for right now. Chiui had finished crying over what she realized about Al and Ed's past might've been about. Those tears were for mourning...mourning for whoever the two Elric brothers tried to save.

Chiui, based on that knowledge, guessed that Ed must've been taken with Armstrong for that purpose...to find out the truth behind it.

But little did she know that who the two brothers tried to save wasn't their mother, who Chiui had not guessed was it, but something else entirely...


	8. Advance of the Fool

"Why?!" Envy exclaimed at Wrath, another one of the Homunculi, throwing his arms up into the air to express his shock, mainly anger. "Why did you let the flame guy leave alive?! He burned Lust to death!"

Gluttony wasn't taking this well either. "Lust...died..." he sniffed, his tone being that of grief.

"It's not too late!" Envy told Wrath. "Go kill him!"

"Roy Mustang." Wrath spoke up, revealing his deep voice. "We can use him."

"Use?" Envy raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're going to make him open the..."

A limited chuckle escaped the Fuhrer's lips. "Worry not. Father put me in charge of him."

* * *

"Your father?" Winry questioned Al after he used the phone to check up on his brother, who hasn't returned yet.

"Yeah. Dad showed up after being missing for 10 years." Al explained.

"Shouldn't you go and see him?" Ling asked.

"Well...even if I saw him again, I don't know what we could talk about?"

"Do you dislike him?" Chiui questioned this time.

Alphonse leaned forward on the bed he was sitting on. "I...don't **dislike** him." he began the response with a solemn tone. "I don't even **remember** him. But I would like to discuss alchemy with him. From what I can tell by the library books he left behind, he really knew a lot...but... _aww_ , jeez..."

Chiui understood how he felt, but it was different for her. While the 2 brothers have a father that has just returned after so many years, she is trying to find her father who has been gone from her life since she was a baby. But she didn't know that.

"Knowing my brother...I'm sure he's picking fights with Dad and not talking about alchemy at all." The suit of armor's tone became more sophic. "I wouldn't be surprised if he punched Dad in the face."

"That's hard not to imagine." Winry agreed.

* * *

Meanwhile, a dark-haired, middle aged man with poor-looking clothing on him, and an usual mustache saw a little girl passed out, along with her pet panda. She had Xingese clothes on, and her dark hair was put into circular braids. The remaining pieces of hair were put into two small buns on the top side of her head.

"She passed out from exhaustion...?" he wondered, bending down on both knees to look at her. He then decided to see if she would stir. "Hey! Hey, kid!"

No answer came from her, so he shifted his eyes to the left, then to the right. "Anything valuable...?" he rummaged through her bag, only to get his entire hand bitten by the panda. He screamed and apologized as a result.

"Thank you very much!" The little girl thanked him a while later after she had some food to replenish herself. "You saved me! I owe you my life, ." she bowed.

"That's all right." Yoki shooed it off with his hand. "You can pay me back in installments over the rest of your-" the pet panda bit his shoulder. "I was joking! _Ow!_ Please stop!"

"You said your name is Mei Chan, right? What's a young girl like you doing out here all alone?"

"I'm looking for someone." she replied, then with a curious expression, "Have you heard of someone named Edward Elric?"

"WHAAT!?" he exclaimed. "What on earth could you want with that brat!?"

Mei, surprisingly, wasn't frightened by his response. "Do you know him!?"

"Know him?" Yoki repeated those two words angrily. "That little snot ruined my life!"

The little Xingese girl started daydreaming about her depiction of Ed in the background, which left the man to ponder.

 _Hm...now that I think about it, that brat is a state alchemist, isn't he?_

"Mr. Yoki, do you know where he is right now?" Mei asked cheerfully.

" _Heh heh heh..._ " he chuckled. "Leave it to me! My **servant** will lead us right to him!"

* * *

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Garfiel!" Winry apologize on the phone to her boss. "Ed hasn't returned with the money, so we can't leave the hotel.""

"The nerve!" he fumed. " _What kind of man makes a girl worry about money!?_ When he comes back, girlfriend, you milk him for everything you got! He owes you!"

Winry laughed nervously.

"Don't worry about getting back to the shop-I can extend your vacation as long as you need." Garfiel added. "But when you return, be prepared to work extra hard!"

"Yes, sir!" Winry nodded. "Of course!" And with that, she hung up.

She then heard the entrance door close, and a "Hey, Winry." The blonde girl turned, her blue eyes locking on Edward.

"You idiot!" she yelled sharply at him, causing Ed to raise his hands up in protest.

"What gives!?" he complained. "If this is about my auto-mail, I didn't break it!"

Winry started pushing him towards the room hurriedly. "That's not it! Just hurry up and go see Al!"

Ed went to ask his childhood friend what she was doing, but her pouty, concerned look stopped those words in their tracks.

"WHAT IS THIS!?" Ed's temper almost broke the roof. "Al...you're all busted! _Aaaagh!_ "

"I'm sorry." His brother quickly apologized.

"What kind of trouble have you been getting into while I've been gone!?"

The furious teen then spotted Ling, Lan Fan, and Chiui eating, with dishes filling the table. The two dark haired teens were eating more than the Xingese/Ishvalan girl was eating, which was just some ramen and chicken to tide her hunger. This didn't help Ed's anger much.

"And what the heck are YOU three doing here!?"

"Eating a delicious dinner." Ling's words came out in a muffle because of the chicken in his mouth.

The Fullmetal Alchemist was having none of this, and kicked out the three noble teens out the door, making Chiui wonder why _she_ was kicked out with them.

"Aw, geez, Al." Edward exhaled as he observed the broken parts of Al's armor. "You really are a mess. I guess I'll have to replace your missing parts with metal from the surrounding armor."

"It's going to to make your body a little thinner, but..." he added ,but noticed that Al was mute. "What's wrong?"

* * *

"The Homunculi and Barry the Chopper, huh?" Ed clapped his hands together, resting his hand on Al's shoulder, and the other on Al's lower jaw. Electricity sparked from his hands, soon repairing the missing parts.

"Sounds like things have been rather _festive_ while I was gone." he put his hands on his hips. "And there's still that little problem that your body and your soul might reject one another at the same time!"

"Al can be turned to normal, right, Ed?" Winry wondered.

"You can bet on it!" Ed replied with a confident tone to his voice. "I'll return him to normal, no matter what!"

He then became silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts about what he did while he was at Pinako's house. "Al...I...I dug up the remains of what we thought was Mom so that I could verify her identity..."

"You what!?" Alphonse and Winry were thrown off by this.

"And this is what I found out!" Ed interrupted. "The thing we buried was not our mother."

Silence took over the room as Al rested on the bed with a _FWUMP!_ , resting his hands on his head in shock. "But...that means...wait a minute! Big brother, how could you go off and do something like that without telling me!?"

"Don't yell at me just yet." The teen told him. "I'm convinced you can be returned to your original body."

"Really!?" Winry and Al spoke in unison for the second time, which made Ed a bit annoyed.

"Now let me ask the two of you a question." The golden-haired 16-year old said aside. "A long time go...we fought over who would...marry Winry." he started becoming flustered in the face. "You guys remember that?"

"Oh, yeah!" Al perked up. "We were just talking about that the other day, on the top of the hospital. Sure brings back memories! That was when we were around 5 years old, right?"

"Al told me that you turned us both down." he gave his brother a glare before looking at Winry. "Is that true?"

"Yup." Winry replied. "I rejected you both."

"How come?" Ed asked again.

Winry and Al looked at each other. _Ready?_

"I said, 'I don't like guys who are _shorter_ than me.' " Ed fell over in response to Winry's answer.

"Don't judge a man by his height!" he cried, and started saying evil things to her, which only confused her.

"Why are you asking about that, anyway?" she leaned forward as Ed was catching his breath from yelling so much.

"I want to see what memories Al has that I don't." Ed replied. "Can you think of anything else?"

Alphonse and Winry started talking about additional things as a result to Edward's question, but the conversation was mostly about him in the past, and were scratched out.

"That's enough..." he felt gloomy all of a sudden. "I don't wanna hear anymore..."

"That settles it." he added to silence the exchanged whispering. "I couldn't possibly know about thos things. And all of those memories took place before you turned ten. If you have memories before the accident, it means that the Al I bonded to this suit of armor on that day must be the _real_ Al."

He continued after a brief pause. "That explains your memories from before you were ten...but what about your memories ** _after_** the accident?"

Alphonse didn't response to being bewildered by his older brother's talking, so he corrected his question. "I mean, you don't have a brain, so where are all your memories since then being stored?"

The suit of armor took off his head, pointing to the crimson rune circle on the inside corner of his body. "What about this?"

"That's just a symbol to keep your soul bound to the armor." Ed explained. "I have a hunch...that Al's body exists somewhere and his brain is still functioning."

"Oh!" Alphonse remembered something. "Barry the Chopper! His soul existed separate from his body!"

Ed rested an index finger lightly on his arched, golden bangs. "Alchemy states that a human being is composed of the body, soul, and spirit. I think that the spirit is what connects the body to the soul."

"The body and the soul are drawn to one another...because they're connected by the spirit!" Alphonse guessed.

"That's right." Ed nodded, then thought of something. "Could it be that Al's soul and original body are still somehow connected by his spirit?"

He then pondered some more, this time into the past."...On that day I unconsciously said, 'They took him'. You didn't **die** -you were **taken**. Your boy was taken, not as an ingredient for Mom's transmutation, but as a toll to pass through the Portal of Truth. That guy definitely called it a 'toll'." Ed then lifted up his auto-mail arm. "And then I paid another toll, giving my right arm to pull your soul back out."

"Mom is with the **dead** now." Alphonse made that aware to him. "It's impossible to pull someone with no ties to life out of the portal."

"But Al...I was able to pull your soul out...it's a sign that you still exist among the living!" Ed's tone became more enthusiastic at the last four words.

Al's tone, however, was serious due to him recalling something about the portal. "When I stretched out my hand inside the Portal of Truth, it wasn't Mom I saw in there."

"Try to remember, Al!" His older brother tried to motivate him. "You were closer than I was. When you stretched out your hand...what did you see? Who was it?"

Al took a moment to think, his glowing eyes staring at his hand when it hit him. "It was me! Mom wasn't there at all!"

"That's right! You're the one who's trapped in there!"

Al's eyes widened. "I remember now..."

Visions of that day came into his mind. He saw a younger Ed on the ground, blood splattered underneath him from his arm.

"Back then...I was looking at you, big brother, through the eyes of what we thought was Mom! Looking back on it now...I guess that body rejected my soul. So...that wasn't Mom..."

Ed's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness." he had his head down in regret as what Al and he were talking about raced through his mind. "I transmuted some totally unrelated entity and dragged you into it...and now I've given you a body that's a ticking time bomb. I..."

Two knocks at the door halted his words. He turned when he heard his name.

"Mr. Elric." Someone told him at the door. "You have a phone call from a Mrs. Izumi Curtis."

Izumi, Ed's former teacher, and Ed talked for a while.

"Yes." was all Alphonse could hear Ed say while on the phone to her. "The dead...those whose bodies are lost to **death** , can never return. That is the conclusion I've come to."

"Okay, that's good." Izumi's voice sounded more cheerful. "Since Al never really died, his body is still alive." she then sighed aside. "Back then, I thought I had solved the greatest mystery of alchemy...but I was wrong. And I paid the ultimate sacrifice."

"I'm sorry." Ed was a little distraught to hear that.

"No," Izumi corrected him, "That was the 'toll', the price I had to pay for treading in a land I had no business being in."

His former teacher was silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Ed!"

"Yes?" The teen's eyes widened.

" **Thank you**." Izumi sounded like she was on the verge of tears, and before Ed could say anything else, he heard the phone turn silent.

 _What did Teacher say...?_ he wondered as he walked over to Alphonse.

" 'Thanks'?" Alphonse recalled the word. "Big brother?"

Ed started walking up the stairs. "I don't know why, but she said, 'Thanks'."

Alphonse was quiet for a moment. "...Oh, okay."

This left Ed to turn around and look at him, wondering what his younger brother could be thinking about.

"Ever since that day when things went wrong, I blamed myself...but I was afraid of saying anything." He started to tremble, and his words soon did the same. "I thought...I thought Mom was turned into that thing because of me! If I hadn't done something wrong, Mom would be alive and we'd still be normal, that's what I thought!"

Ed's expression saddened. "I blamed myself, too."

"Thank you, big brother." Alphonse now had his hands covering his radiant eyes. "I wasn't the one that killed Mom after all!"

The two were mute for a few minutes. "I might have not killed Mom," Ed spoke up, "but I'm still the one who put you in that body. I can't be forgiven if I give up now. I don't care what you say, Al, I won't stop until I find a way to get your original body back."

"Big brother..." Al began. "What you was wrong, but I'm just as guilty. You don't have to shoulder the burden alone. You always try to take all the blame yourself. It's painful to watch. Seeing you suffer like that... after died, I told myself that if getting my original body back meant someone else might get hurt, I don't want to pursue it. "

He then thought about Barry, and Greed, the Homunculus he ran into a few months ago.

"I met some people who weren't really human either, but they still managed to find meaning in their existence. They made me realize that I can still live a full life."

Winry was eavesdropping on their conversation, as well as Ling, Chiui, and Lan Fan.

While Lan Fan and Ling were sitting Indian style on the floor, Chiui was standing up, her body facing the stairs in 3/4 view, and had her hand rested on the wall of the stairs to hear.

Her expression became more distraught when she heard them talking; she didn't want to think about finding out about the brothers' tragic past anymore, but sometimes her feelings towards it and other sad stories get the best of her...

"This metal body is like a time bomb that could fall apart at any time..." Alphonse took a second to rest his clenched fist onto his chest." But...are human beings made of flesh and blood really any different? After all, you can never predict when sickness or or any accident might take your life. I'm not handicapped by this if I choose to live a normal life. ...But I've had enough."

He looked down at the floor, his face shaded, but light reflected off of it due to the moonlit sky outside. He then looked up with confidence.

"I...I...I don't want to spend my nights awake and alone anymore! That's the only reason I want to return to normal. I want my original body back!"

"Al..." Ed spoke up, "I just want to see you smile again."

"But I don't want to drag anyone else into this." Alphonse reminded him. "So, big brother...I want to be strong enough to protect the people around me! I'm going to get my body back and I'm not going to lose anyone else in the process!"

His older brother laughed heartedly. "I was thinking the same thing!"

Ed then grabbed the banister, rushing up the stairs with Al following behind him. "There's no more time to sit around and mope. Let's do it! We're going to track down that so-called 'Truth', and pull your body back from that place!"

Winry saw the two brothers passing by her, and went to follow them as well, but stopped when she saw Ed's sudden change in his shoulders, making her flustered.

 _Since when did Ed get such broad shoulders...?_

* * *

"So you arrived at Dr. Marcoh's a moment too late." Roy informed Breda, another military officer, as he sat down on one of the long chairs in the hospital hallways. "One of the Homunculi is a shape-shifter. He might be the one who's responsible."

The chestnut-haired man gritted his teeth. "I've had enough of those freaks! I...I can't move around as freely anymore."

Roy rested both of his hands underneath his chin, with one them bandaged from Lust's attack earlier. "So we're stuck..."

As they headed back to Jean Havoc's room-where Roy was for a while until he decided to depart, despite his injuries, they saw an sobbing, elderly woman with an officer leave from it. But when Roy, Riza, and Breda entered, Havoc answered for them.

"My mother, and someone from the discharge office."

"Dis-" The Flame Colonel began, but the 2nd Lieutenant interrupted him.

"They've decided to have me discharged because of the injury I received at the prison incident."

"Now, wait just a minute!" Breda was with the others on not comprehending this. "What're you going to do as a civilian!?"

"My family owns a general goods shop in the East area countryside." The blonde replied. "I can at least answer phones for them."

"But the doctors still aren't certain that you can't be cured..."

"I'm not stupid, sir, that I don't know when I'm n longer useful." Havoc talked back with a sharp tone. " **The military has no use for a pawn who can't move.** "

"So you're just giving up?" Roy gritted his teeth, his eyebrows furrowed with a mix of anger and disbelief.

"What am I supposed to do with these legs, sir?"

"But-!"

"...Don't you look at me like that!" Havoc's voice began to rise as he grabbed the top of Roy's coat, pulling the dark-haired man towards him. "JUST FORGET ABOUT ME! MOVE ON WITHOUT ME! You don't have time to worry a low-ranking solider like me! Did you forget your promise to Commodore Hughes!?"

"Stop!" Breda rested his hand on the young man's outstretched arm, but that didn't help much.

Havoc's arm was trembling with fear now. "Look at me! I can't even raise myself out of this bed without someone to help me. I don't need...your pity!" The man became silent for a moment, beads of sweat starting to run down his face. "Just cut me off...don't waste any more time on me. ...Please."

Roy gave him a serious look before taking a hold of Havoc's hand, and releasing it from its hold on his coat. "All right. I'll leave you behind." Havoc's eyes widened, and then closed shut at this. "I'll leave you behind...to make sure you have someone to catch up with. I'm moving on."

He then turned, walking towards the door."See you at the top."

As the remaining three stood there, Riza rested a hand on Havoc's shoulder. "Second ...that man...he didn't forsake me when I'd given up on life. And then he asked me to keep protecting his back."

"He's a fool!" Havoc shaded part of his eyes with the back of his hand as he rested it on his forehead. "There's no way he can rise to the top in **this** country by being so **soft**."

"There's a place for at least one fool like that in the world." Riza reminded him.

Outside, Roy was sitting on a box labeled, "Dust". It was just outside the injured 2nd Lieutenant's room.

He could hear the clacking of his sidekick's boots as she approached him. He was holding the wound where he was hit at in pain.

"You'll reopen your wound." Riza told him solemnly. "Please don't push yourself so hard."

"Bring me my uniform." Roy told her as bursts of air lefts his mouth, and had his eyes closed.

"Sir, you're still in no condition to check out of here-"

"Just bring it!"

He opened up his dark eyes, locking them on his subordinate. Riza then knew what he meant.

"Yes, sir."

And with that, she departed for the task he had given her.

"What if...it's rotten?" Al came to a conclusion about his body, causing Winry and Ed to gave he confused looks. "Wherever my body is, it's not getting any nutrients, is it?! And it's not getting any sleep either, right!?"

The three of them then had a vision of what it might look like, causing shivers to run down their spines and for them to forget it completely...well, almost.

Winry looked to the left and right frantically. "Huh!? What are we going to do, Ed!?"

Edward had his eyes closed and arms crossed, his mind working. "Hm. This is kust a hypothesis, but...when we tried to transmute Mom, you and I mixed our blood, remember?"

"Uh-huh." Al replied.

"And then we were taken to that place, we were both 'deconstructed'. So maybe, in the process, our spirits crossed."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that I'm here and you're somewhere else, but maybe we're still connected somehow." Ed then laughed, adding a shrug. "I mean...for my age, I'm pretty sho...sho...sh...short..."

The realization of him being 4'11" set on him, and he rested his hands on his face.

 _He admitted it!_ Winry was in disbelief, as well as Alphonse, who thought, _He confronted his own trauma..._

"Are you saying that your body is providing nutrition for Al's body, too, and that's why you're so small?" The blonde teen crossed her arms, and sighed. "That's ridiculous."

"IT'S NOT RIDICULOUS!" Ed yelled back, snorting.

"The reason you're not growing is because you don't drink milk!" Winry reminded him.

"Not milk again!" The golden-haired teen complained loudly; milk was his #1 enemy, and he won't even touch it once, or try it once.

 _Now that I think about it..._ Al's mind was on the recent subject, _...Big Brother does sleep an awful lot. Could he be sleeping for my body too?_ As these words went through his head, his friend and brother were bickering in the background. _It can't be...but..._

Laughter then escaped him. "I hope it's true..."

He and Ed then gave each other a fist bump. "After all, we're brothers! We share the same blood."

"That's right." his older brother smirked. "The two of us together makes one person!" He then lifted his hands up into the air. "So when Al is returned to normal, I'll grow taller too! Things are finally looking up!"

"Since you're taking care of us both, big brother, make sure you eat right and get enough sleep." Al was sounding like a teacher or their mother. "And you have to drink **_milk_**!"

"Why d'ya have to drag milk into this!?' Ed fumed.

"And that temper of yours could be a sign of calcium deficiency." Ad added, and Ed bonked the bottom of his younger brother's chin as a result.

"I am growing, even if it doesn't seem like it!" Ed added growling. "I guess that means I can go back to 's tommorow."

The two brothers started laughing.

"And I'm not a kid anymore, so quit nagging!" Winry stretched as she slightly scolded her two friends. "I'm so glad you guys are back together!"

She then turned around, opening the door. "I gotta go back to my room and pack." She waved towards them without turning back around, so her back was basically facing them. "See ya."

"Okay."

As Winry softly closed the door behind her, using her back to do so, she rememebered what happened earlier about Ed's sudden, broad shoulders.

 _That's true. You're_ _ **not**_ _a kid anymore..._

The brothers had exited the hotel, and returned after trying to find out about talking to an Homunculus after a brief conversation. But they ended up failing, and ran right into Sergeant Brosh, the friend of Maria Ross and a friend of the brothers as well. He informed them about Scar's return, and told the brothers to return to the hotel immediately.

They didn't like the sound of this.

"But it didn't take long for Scar to overpower us last time." Al leaned forward towards his older brother as he was sitting on the couch.

This sent shock towards Ed, as well as shivers down his spine. "We're a _lot_ stronger than we used to be!"

"Even if the Homunculi show themselves, how do you plan to catch one?"

Al was now looming over Ed, making the short teen a tad uncomfortable. "I...I...I'll think of something. ...I hope."

"Don't worry! I overheard everything!" Ling's joyous voice came out of nowhere as he popped up from the window, using one of his feet to support himself. Lan Fan and Chiui were using both of their feet on the outside part of the building where the room was.

He scared both brothers in the process.

"Ling!" Ed exclaimed. "How long have you been there?!"

"Ever since I got kicked out of my room." Ling replied straight out, and then settled himself onto the bed. "I shall help you with your plan."

"What!?" The Fullmetal Alchemist didn't like the sound of this, gritting his teeth. "What are you **scheming**?"

Ling laughed. "Come now! We're friends, right? I just want to help you, of course!"

He tried to sound as innocent as possible, but then decided that wouldn't work, so he became more grave. "All right, I'll cut the crap. I want to know the secret of the Homunculi, too. If we're close enough, the two of us can detect their presence. You guys can lure them out...and we'll detect their presence, set up an ambush and then grab one."

He then raised an index finger, grinning. "We've battled them before so it'll be easier for us to catch them. So how about it? Will you let us catch one?"

"A joint effort, huh!?" Ed was liking this idea better than Ling's annoying side of his personality. "Agreed! Just make sure you don't run off once you've caught your Homunculus!"

"You have my word." Ling smiled honestly. "Plus, I owe you a meal."

"A meal?" he raised an eyebrow, not following what the Xingese Prince was talking about.

"Um, big brother..." Alphonse said as if on cue, "This is Ling's room service bill."

As Ed took a hold of it and looked at it, his jaw dropped down in absolute shock. Ling made a silly face in the background, hoping that he wouldn't get kicked out, but he failed, causing the three noble teens to get kicked out-or in this case- _tossed_ out out of the window.

"THAT'S MORE THAN JUST ONE MEAL!"

"Keep it down!" a door was suddenly barged open, and before it was an awakened, engraged Winry. "What are you guys, a bunch of kids!?"

"I have to get up early tomorrow, so keep it down!" she added as an complaint while fuming.

"Oh yeah...you're going back to Rush Valley tomorr-" A realization went through the Fullmetal Alchemist's mind as he had pictured the runaway male Ishvalan holding Ed's arm, dissolving it in smithereens with his powers. "...Oh."

"Why the hurry?" Ed shooed it off with his hand, adding a skittish smile. "Rush Valley can wait a few days. There's so much to see and do here in Central City!"

"Huh?"

Ed then rubbed the back of his hand in the same manner his smile was in, an army of sweat running down his face. "Well, it's just that...you know...uh...my **arm** might get **broken**. I'll probably break it. All right?"

"So you're **_PLANNING_** to break it!?" Winry's arm trembled as she suddenly sent a wrench flying towards Ed's head, soon becoming splattered with blood.

The golden-haired teen lied down unconscious, as Al noticed his soul departed into the sky, but he grabbed a hold of it, adding, "I got your soul, brother!"


	9. Girls on the Battlefield -PART 1-

The next day, Edward was going around town, fixing problems people were facing with his alchemy. He was acting totally out of character, and started appreciating the attention he was getting by the passerbys and people he helped out.

After he was done, he was sitting at an outside chair of a tea house, his arms crossed, and one of his legs resting on the knee of his other leg.

He sneezed with a conceited smirk laden on his face. "The whole city is talking about me!"

"Of course, you were so flamboyant about it!" Al sounded a bit annoyed.

"The trap is set for Scar and I'm getting famous." Ed declared. "Two birds with one stone!"

Alphonse sat down with him using a chair at the same table. "Now all we have to do is wait until your name reaches his ears."

All of a sudden, a car stopped near the two brothers, catching their attention. When they saw the window roll down, Ed's eyes widened.

"You're behaving most out of character." Roy said bluntly.

 _Not the ears I wanted to reach..._ Ed growled, gritting his teeth.

"Second Lt. Maria Ross told me everything." he informed the Flame Colonel, which revealed that Maria is indded alive and now with Fu in Xing. Ed had come across Maria in Xerxes, and Armstrong had showed his affection by suddenly becoming shirtless and attempted to gave the former 2nd Lieutenant a hug, but she wasn't having any of it.

"That's good." Roy nodded.

"I heard about Second Lt. Havoc, too."

"I see..."

Ed looked away for a moment. "Couldn't cure him?"

"Wait." The dark-haired man interrupted. "Get in. Exchange information."

Edward got inside easily, sitting next to Riza, who was the driver. Roy was in the back, and was being squished by Alphonse when he entered the car.

"On second thought," he retreated what he said before, "We should probably talk **outside**."

" and the Philsopher's Stone are missing!?" Ed exclaimed.

"They must've taken him captive." The Flame Colonel hypothesized on that.

"But why!?" Ed looked away in anger, putting his hands on his hips. "Dr. Marcoh used to make stone for the military in their labs. He said that the stones were used in Ishval." he then started pondering. "The Philosopher's Stone, the Homunculi, the military's dark side, Ishval...how are they all connected? What _happened_ in Ishval!?"

"Speaking of Ishval, I heard that Scar is around." Roy spoke up."Why are you doing things that will just catch his eye?"

Ed smirked, he didn't seem afraid by the Colonel's question. "I want him to find me. I need to fight him again."

"Don't be stupid!" scolded Roy. "Did you forget what happened to you in East City?!"

"Oh, my!" The alchemist chuckled, almost looking like a crocodile with his expression. "Afraid of Scar now, are we? You were pretty much useless last time, if I remember correctly!"

An irritated smirk crossed the older man's lips, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Don't underestimate me! The weather is fine today!"

While Riza heard Ed add, "On top of that, you're exhausted!" towards the Colonel, she turned her hazel eyes to something her ears caught in the distance.

"You really are useless, aren't you?" he directed another insult towards Roy, with his arms up in the air. This was really getting on his nerves...

"Shut up!" he went to say, but he and the teen noticed Riza pull out her gun towards an approaching figure.

When the two of them set their eyes on what the female 2nd Lieutenant was seeing, they saw that it was the Ishvalan mentioned from before...Scar. He had a muscular body, which was obvious by his large torso and chest. He wore casual clothing, and had a robe on him, his red eyes covered by sunglasses, the obvious X-shaped scar was shaded by the hood as it blew in the wind.

"Now look!" Roy complained. "He's here!"

A smirk was on Edward's lips. "What's wrong? It's not even raining, but you look pretty drenched."

Riza was about to fire, but Ed stopped her by rushing out in front of her. "Hang on, Lieutenant! Don't shoot."

The woman gave him a disbelieved look. "What are you saying?!"

Ed's eyes were locked on hers for a brief second, then went back to being locked on Scar. "Just thought I'd try fishing like the Colonel likes to."

The hood of the male Ishvalan fell off as he stuck out his hand, revealing his short, cut, almost white hair. A huge surge of power emerged from his hand, slamming it onto the ground.

The ground shook as if an earthquake suddenly struck the Earth, but the impact felt like it. Rifts of the ground came barreling right towards the group. Ed saw this, as well as his younger brother, and got ready to fight, clapping their hands together.

Al was able to block it just in time with his alchemy, stopping Scar's attack in its tracks.

Not surprised, Scar sent the same attack.

"We're going to drag out the Homunculi, using Brother as bait!" Al explained to the two adults. Meanwhile, the ground beneath Scar charged again and Ed jumped out of the way as to not get hit by it. Scar lunged himself towards the teen. "Since Brother is an important sacrifice, and they want to keep him alive!"

Roy gritted his teeth as Al and him had their backs rested against the shield the suit of armor made. "This is reckless..."

"We don't want any more casualties!" Al's tone was important and urgent. "So either me or my brother have to be the bait!"

Roy's eyebrows furrowed. "What if Scar gets shot to death by the military police before the Homunculi come out?"

"You can take care of that, right, Colonel?" Al's voice was a little hard to hear by the fighting going on between Scar and Edward.

Roy let out a short laugh, smiling as he closed his eyes. "Ordering me about now, are we? You've got some guts." He then locked his dark eyes on Al's radiant eyes, transferring the trust to him. "If you do capture the Homunculi, give me a crack at them!"

"Roger!" And with that, Alphonse departed from behind the shield, running to join his brother.

Al could see Scar running towards Edward as he caught up with his brother. The two clapped their hands together, causing concrete, snake-like creautres with monstrous heads to charge at the Ishvalan.

Scar saw them coming, and dodged them perfectly by leaping into the air.

Roy backed up a bit, with Riza joining him, still holding her gun.

"Sergeant Fuery's second home is nearby." The Colonel informed his subordinate. "Let's go!" The two military members then left the scene, leaving the two Elric brothers to deal with Scar. Ed could hear their footprints retreating into the distance.

On top of the building on the right of the departing members was Ling, Chiui, and Lan Fan. Ling was resting one knee of the roof, resting the tip of his sword next to him. Chiui was kneeling on both knees, while Lan Fan was standing up, keeping watch.

"It's begun." Ling declared, observing Ed and Alphonse in the fight with Scar.

Military police arrived, warning them about Scar, to run away.

"Don't shoot!" Al pleaded, using an open hand to show his concern. "You'll hit Brother!" he glanced over his shoulder at the fight scene.

 _Damn it!_ Ed thought as adrenaline pumped through his veins. _...If Scar gets shot, it's all over!_ he was dodging Scar's punches. _Not being too close or too far is a pain! When are you going to get here, Homunculus?!_

Ling opened one eye, while Lan Fan and Chiui's eyes widened as something passed by them.

"I sense something...did you, Lan Fan?" he then looked at the mixed race, noble teen. "Chiui?"

Chiui and Lan Fan nodded in unison. "Yes."

"All right, let's go!"

And with that, they jumped off the building, and towards the Homunculi.

Meanwhile, during the fight, a rock landed near Ed's left eye, causing blood to run down that side of his face and cover his said eye. However, his dull crimson jacket wasn't lucky, and most of it was torn to shreds from Scar and Ed's canceled attack, sending some debris into the air.

"I got lucky..." Ed smirked, resting his gloved hand on his auto-mail arm, which surprisingly, didn't break.

"He canceled out the decomposition energy?!" Al's glowing eyes widened. "So reckless..."

However, something else caught the suit of armor's attention, and it was the revealed tattoo on Scar's arm. His sleeve was torn like Edward's was. The tattoos were black, with a lot of circles and arrows, and words that looked like they were Ishvalan.

 _Tattoos on his right arm!_

Ed's eyes widened in horror; he realized this, too. "Bastard...so it _was_ you!"

"I can smell it!" A joyful Gluttony ran from roof to roof of the buildings. "I can smell him!"

But as he said so, a foot hit him right in the face, causing him to be sent backwards, crashing right into the wooden part of the roof of the building he was on.

As he stirred, he saw Lan Fan resting on the thick railing she was in, and Ling looking at him from the top of his building the Homunculus was about to jump on, his sword resting on his left shoulder. Chiui was next to Lan Fan, ready to fight.

"Hey, how it's going?" Ling greeted him, starting off sarcastically. "You have a strange interior. How many people do you have inside you?"

Gluttony looked nervous, and scanned the perimeter frantically. "Who?" asked the Homunculus innocently.

"There's no point in trying to run." Lan Fan warned him. "I can sense your distinct aura from a mile away!"

An odd grin crossed his lips. "Enemy? Enemy?" he cocked his head from side to side. His mouth then widened up, revealing saliva and his Ouroburos tattoo. "Can I eat you?"

Ling's right eye widened in shock. _As I thought!_

 _A Homunculus!_ Lan Fan and Chiui thought at the same time.

"Oh? You can sense us?"

Sharp gasps escaped the noble Xingese trio as they set their eyes on the newcomer to the scene.

Bradley took one of his long, sharp swords out of their hilts, in which it shined against the beaming sun in the sky. "A troublesome ability." He then took the other one out. "I'll eliminate you!"

His walk soon transitioned in a quick run, dust subsiding furiously behind him.

The Xingese Prince's eyes widened in horror as he looked out of the corner of his eye; Bradley was heading straight for his female bodyguard.

"Lan Fan!"

But his warning was too late. Bradley ran quickly up the ladder, and it was too late for Lan Fan to run.

Chiui could see this, and her red eyes widened in realization.

 _Oh crap!_

It seemed that time slowed down as Bradley went to strike the bodyguard. Lan Fan's heart raced as terror was right in front of her, ready to strike at her.

...And in one split second, Chiui dashed in front of Lan Fan, and went to protect her. But she ended up getting her arm severely damaged, as well as a wound of the same level on her forehead. Lan Fan, however, wasn't lucky. Her mask broke into smithereens and she gasped in pain as her arm was more wounded and deeper than Chiui's was.

"NO, LAN FAN! CHIUI!"

Ling watched as both of the girls fell, blood splattering beneath their bodies as they collided with the ground.

 **A/N: Sorry that this chapter was a bit short, it is because it's a two parter, so more suspense will occur in the 2nd part to this: Chapter 9: Girls on the Battlefield Part 2!**


	10. Girls on the Battlefield -PART 2-

Bradley now had one foot rested where Lan Fan was before he attacked her, hurting Chiui in the process.

He noticed the top of one of his swords snap, and watched as Lan Fan and Chiui landed on the ground.

 _That Ishvalan girl...she tried to block my attack to dampen the blow._ he concluded. _But the other girl had used the kunai to dampen the blow as well._

"Can I eat them?" Gluttony was sounding impatient, yet excited, as drool run down his open mouth. "Huh? Huh?"

"Be quick about it."

"Hoooraaa-" Gluttony went to say, but a blurred figure came out of nowhere behind him, slicing the top part of his face and arms off.

The Homunculus fell to the ground with a thud, with Ling landing where Lan Fan and Chiui fell.

"Lan Fan! Chiui!" he yelled towards them. "Pull yourselves together! Let's get out of here!"

He t hen noticed that she couldn't get up, so he lifted up Lan Fan, putting her over his shoulder. As for Chiui, he lifted her up, resting the girl on his other shoulder, but managed to hold onto his sword as he saw Bradley approaching, stepping in the blood that expelled from Gluttony when he fell.

"Do you really think you can escape from my watchful eye?" The Fuhrer lifted up his unbroken sword, aiming it towards the Xingese Prince and his two fallen comrades.

"I agree that it's doubtful..." Ling shuffled, his sandals making sounds against the ground, "...but I won't know until I try!"

The military president and the Xingese Prince then engaged into a furious combat, the metal of their swords clanging against each other when the two swords equaled out. However, one swing came at Ling's face, missing the teen. But the second time around, it came back with more force, causing a cut to emerge Ling's right cheek. Blood from the cut dripped down the cheek for a few seconds, stopping immediately when it reached the end of that side of his face.

"Hmmm..." Bradley observed as they continued fighting. " I see you know a thing or two about combat."

Ling ran from behind the Fuhrer, and then to the front of him.

"You're constantly moving into my blind spot...circling around towards my left eye."

"In that case..." he added. "Gluttony!"

A round figure glided behind the President, appearing right in front of Ling. "Peek-a-boo!"

The prince was unaware of him, and as a result, was sent flying right into a building with one good swing from the Homunculus. Glass shattered with a deafening sound as Ling, Lan Fan, and Chiui went through it, tumbling to the floor.

The injured girls fell off of Ling's shoulders. The prince gritted his teeth, grunting in pain, only for his eyes to widen when the two Homunculi appeared.

"Well then..." Bradley started. "Now that we're out of sight from prying eyes, I have many _questions_ to ask you. Who are you? What are your intentions? And why can you see what's inside Gluttony?"

Ling had his two female comrades on his shoulders once more, and his ears drowned out the words of the military Homunculus as his eyes locked on the exit.

 _It's about 40 paces to the door...can I make it?_

"Even when your defeat is undeniable, you still plot escape." Bradley noticed. "How foolish. And **cowardly.** These girls have become a burden to you. If you leave them behind, you might stand a chance. Why do you hesitate?"

Ling's breath was becoming more short and limited as he glared at him. "A **burden**?" he repeated that word boldly. "Let me ask **you** something, then. If you were in my place, could you bring yourself to forsake your fallen comrades?"

"Yes, I could."

The answer caused Lings' eyes to became small in shock.

"That is how I've come as far as I have. I'd have no hesitation whatsoever."

"You're...the most powerful person in this country, right?" Ling's mind started to remember hearing of his opponent. "You're Fuhrer President King Bradley."

As no response came from Bradley, Ling got on one knee, resting a hand on his sword. His breathing was now in short bursts of air, his eyes shaded by his bangs. "A king exists for his people." he spoke up. "Without his people, there can be no king."

Lan Fan's face became weary in pain; her breath was becoming shortened as well.

"King Bradley!" The prince opened his eyes. "You will never be a true king!"

Lan Fan used her injured arm to grab a flash bomb, snapping the top of it off with her teeth. Small amounts of blood left her injured arm as she did so, dripping onto the ground.

Bradley and Gluttony noticed the bomb hit the ground with a _TONK_ , and a small _fssh_ when it set off. The room flashed a bright white when it exploded.

"A flash bomb!?" Bradley exclaimed, shielding his left eye while Gluttony shielded his own eyes. "Curses!"

"You rely too much on your eyesight, Bradley!" Ling yelled as he dashed into the mist left by the bomb.

 _His vision won't return for a while._ The teen concluded as he focused on the exit. _The wind blowing...good! The exit is in that direction!_

He took a sudden step back when a sword came flying right in front of him, stabbing right into the wall.

It dangled as Ling looked over at Bradley.

"You may have blinded one eye..." The president slowly put his hand down, that he was shielding with. "...But I have another!"

Ling's eyes widened when he saw the Ouroburos tattoo on Bradley's right eye as he began to stand up.

"For the first time in my life, I am thankful for this eye patch." Bradley told me. "It blocked out the light from your flash bomb quite well."

He then recalled the previous conversation. "You mentioned something about a 'true king', did you not, boy? **Your immature and idealized theory is worthy of contempt. Nowhere on this Earth does a true king exist!** "

Winry had just come back from visiting the cemetery with Gracia and Elicia, the cemetery where was buried. She was talking about her deceased parents that had gone into the mist of the Ishvalan war back when they were alive, and when Winry was little. All she had remembered was seeing her parents' backs as they walked away, and then finding out about being killed by someone they saved. She missed them greatly, and still misses them now.

The blonde teen could hear citizens talking about something concerning alchemists. She didn't know what they were talking about until the words "Elric brothers" came into the speech.

She knew those words all too well. So with an apology to Gracia and Elicia, she departed into a stride.

"Grr..." she grumbled. "What are those idiots up to now!?"

"The state alchemist is a murder suspect?" a man asked a woman as Winry passed by.

"He's still around?" the woman asked him.

Different questions from the chatter emerged, such as, "Are things really under control?" and "What's the military doing here, anyway?"

The flashback of her parents started playing in Winry's head, but then it transitioned to something similar, but instead with Edward and Alphonse's backs facing her.

 _Oh no..._ Winry thought, sweat running down her face as she fastened the pace she was running at. _Why are they overlapping!?_

Meanwhile, Scar sent a tide of power towards Ed as he approached him.

 _Where the heck are the Homunculi!?_ he gritted his teeth, but then notcied the path was coming to an end. _Huh!? A dead end!? Darn it!_

He grabbed a water pipe, which started breaking off the wall as he climbed up it. However, Ed didn't make it far, since Scar split the pipe in half with his alchemy.

Falling down, the Fullmetal Alchemist started screaming, but was saved by a hand-shaped piece of concrete Al had conjured from the ground. Scar ducked the shield as to not get hit by it.

Ed was crying tears of joy. "Nice one, bro!"

"Okay!" Alphonse yelled towards him. "Just hurry up and get out there!"

As if on cue, Scar struck the shield, breaking it to pieces. Ed moved just in time, landing on the railing of a woman's balcony.

One of the ledges started crumbling, and was about to come down on Ed and the woman. "Why, you..." he directed towards Scar, clapping his hands together just in time to turn the sheet into a shield to block the crumbled pieces. Holes ripped through it, making it creak as Ed tried to hold it up.

"Are you alright!?" Ed asked the woman. The woman didn't really know what to say, except "Th...thanks."

"Sorry about the mess!" the teen apologized as he started to leave and go back to the scene. "I'll fix it for you later!"

"Do we have permission to fire yet!?" the military cop asked the other one.

"Not yet, sir!"

"Why not!?"

Al dodged Scar's attack, which happened to hit right into the cops, knocking them out.

"Oh..." Al didn't realize that would happen. "Sorry about that!"

"You idiot!" Ed appeared, scolding Scar. "Don't involve the bystanders!"

"It will all be over as soon as you accept the Divine Judgement, Fullmetal Alchemist." The male Ishvalan spoke for the first time.

"Don't be so unreasonable." The suit of armor told him, then started looking around.

 _The Homunculi still haven't shown themselves...and Ling hasn't fired his signal flare..._ Al then focused on his older brother's face. _Big brother looks tired. I have to buy us some time!_

"Scar!" he yelled towards the Ishvalan. "How can you accuse alchemists of defying God and take it upon yourself to eliminate them, when you yourself use alchemy!?"

"I already told you in East city." Scar turned to look at him. "There are those like you who create, and there are those who destroy."

Al flinched as the remembrance of Nina passed his mind. "East...destroy..." But then he clenched his fists, his arms trembling. "If all you do is destroy, how can you hope to accomplish anything? Aren't you just invoking God's name so that you can justify **murder**?"

"...Al?" Ed was thrown off a bit by Al's tone, which was of confusion and anger.

"Shou Tucker..." his younger brother continued, bringing up the twisted man's name, "...and his daughter, Nina. Did you tell them that you were an agent of God when you took their lives!?"

"Tucker..." Scar echoed that word. "So...you saw the girl he turned into a chimera."

"You ask, 'how can I hope to accomplish anything?' " he added. "The alchemist that I defeated the other day said something similar. He said, 'You're no match against those of us who create.'" His red eyes were now locked on the brothers. "You claim that you wield the power of creation!? The same power that turned that innocent girl into an abomination!?"

Alphonse and Edward's eyes widened in horror.

"Such power succeeds in creating tragedy." the man reminded them. "That is the true nature of your alchemy!"

Ed gritted his teeth. "But why...why did you have to kill her!? What right did you have to take her life!? Tell me, Scar!"

Scar's expression was solemn. "You knew what would've happened, wouldn't you? It was impossible for her to be returned back to her former self. Left in that condition, she would've lived the rest of her days as a lab animal, never again treated like a human being."

 _He's right..._ Al clenched his fists, looking at them. _Even if we didn't admit it then, we must have known that she would eventually be treated that way._

 _We didn't know what to do with her because the situation was so difficult..._ Ed's eyebrows furrowed. _So we did nothing...nothing!_

Winry was now behind a talking crowd when she heard a rumble in the distance. "Excuse me." she said to the people in the crowd. "Let me through!"

"Hey, wait!" warned a middle aged man from the crowd she pushed out of. "It's dangerous over there! Hey!"

Those words passed through one ear and out the other for the young auto-mail mechanic. She was too busy running to the scene where she heard the rumble, assuming Ed and Al will be there.

She passed by elevated pieces of the ground and a few, thick, broken pipes caused by the use of alchemy at the begging of the brothers and Scar's battle.

"It's true..." Ed spoke up, "We alchemists have made a lot of mistakes, but that doesn't mean I agree with what you're doing!"

The golden-haired teen then pursed his lips for a moment. "Scar...I have to ask you. Does an agent of God also take doctors' lives, in which they devote themselves to helping others?"

Al heard footsteps approaching and saw Winry, listening in on Ed's talking to Scar. Alphonse knew this was bad timing, but Ed was oblivious to that.

"Do you remember an Amestrian doctor couple named Rockbell?"

"Wait..." Al began, but he was cut off.

"When the Ishvalan war was at its bloodiest, they risked their lives going to the Southern front to treat refugees."

"Wait, big brother!"

"Scar! Ed's voice became sharper. "Do you remember the kind, loving, husband and wife who saved your life, and whose lives you then took!?"

"Big brother!"

Al's warning finally came through and his older brother finally rested his golden eyes on Winry. Realization and fear set on his face, now knowing that Winry just overheard what he asked Scar.

"W...what are you saying?" The girl was grief stricken and confused. "This is the man responsible...of killing my mom and dad?" Her voice was now filling up with sorrow and tears. "It can't be...they were killed...by a person that helped save...? You...killed them...?"

Scar's eyes narrowed, but he had no response.

"Y...you're not going to deny it?" her voice now shook with the said emotion rushing through her body, causing her to fall to her knees with a _SLUMP._

"Why...what did my mom and dad ever to do deserve that? They never did anything harmful to anyone, did they!?"

She then rested her fingers on her head as tears ran down her face. "Give them back! Give me back my mom and dad!"

Her fists clenched and were on the ground, but then Ed noticed a gun resting on the ground near her. It was the gun from one of the knocked out cops. His eyes widened in shock as she went to reach for it, her arm trembling.

"Wait, Winry." he spoke up. "Stop...don't..."

"Winry!" Al's voice didn't help, either, for she already had her fingers on the gun.

"Don't do it, Winry!"

The distraught teen was now loosely holding the gun; the warnings were too late. Winry's expression changed from sadness to an emotion of hatred as the gun was pointed at Scar.

Meanwhile, a random citizen was walking to a small water filler, singing to himself. He went to turn the handle when an explosion from a building behind him occurred.

He looked behind him at the smoke left from the explosion, only to get assuming eyes staring at him.

All of a sudden, he heard a "OUT OF MY WAAAAAY!" then Ling landing on the ground, hard on his feet. Lan Fan and Chiui were still on his shoulders. However, his body twinged in pain from the landing, making him groan. He growled as he dashed off.

"A flash bomb, a smoke bomb, and a grenade..." Bradley observed the teen as he and Gluttony stepped out of the aftermath of the explosion. " _Tsk, tsk._ Such a **reckless** boy. Of course, in my younger years, I was every bit as wild and reckless as him. That's the problem with getting older. I may have my vision still intact and alert, but my body just doesn't want to do what I tell it to do."

He then looked at Gluttony, who was rubbing his eyes. "Your eyesight still hasn't returned, Gluttony?"

Gluttony answered with a nod.

"Circle around from the East to contain them." he gave an order to the round Homunculus. "Don't let them get out into the main streets. Drive them into a dead end alley ahead. They'll not escape again."

As he left the building, using the stairs, he put his eyepatch back on his tattooed eye. "My, my. And we still haven't even dealt with Scar yet."

Ling was running this way and that down the many alleyways of Central. He stopped for a moment, noticing Gluttony on top of one of the buildings.

"That one, he sure is persistent!" Ling grumbled in annoyance and continued running.

 _...Looks like...the farther I go...the less people there are..._ he started pondering as he went furher down the alleyways, noticing the Homunculus once more on the way, then looked around.

"They've run me into a trap!"

"That fool is heading straights towards a dead end." Gluttony could heard Bradley as he was walking by, and jumped down to meet him.

Gun shots, crashes, and booms were then heard in earshot of the two Homunculi.

"Hm...I'll take care of things from here." Bradley told Gluttony. "You keep a watch on Scar."

"Huh?" Gluttony lifted up an index finger, resting it on his lips. "But I like the girl better..."

This struck the Fuhrer as odd. "What? Are you into women?"

The gluttonous villain nodded. "Yup. I like girls. Their flesh is so tender and tasty!"

He started drooling, which made Bradley a tad uneasy.

"...Just hurry up and find Scar."

Ling was running down an alleyway that didn't lead to a dead end. Small clouds of dust appeared under his feet as he did so, his breath coming out in short bursts of air.

"Prince." Lan Fan's voice was weary from pain, and her Lord could tell as he replied with a, "What is it?"

"My left arm...it's no longer of any use." Her injured arm dangled as she said this, still dripping blood.

"What of it?"

"I can no longer fight. If you bother with an unworthy burdens like myself or Chiui, you'll also fall. Then all will have been in vain."

She had to pause for a moment to catch her breath. "A king cannot exist without his people. But without their king, the people will have no sense of purpose. Prince, you must return to Xing alive in order to preserve the hopes of our clan."

"I'm not leaving any of you behind!" Ling told her, stressing his concern for both of the girls' safety and injuries.

A smile came across Lan's lips. "There are many things one can sacrifice to fulfill one's duty."

As she said this, she pulled out one of her kunai, spinning it until it was directed where she wanted it at. Chiui could see what was going on as her red eyes observed the bodyguard's movements, having a gut feeling what she was about to do... _which was to cut off her own arm._

"Lan Fan..." Chiui spoke up for the first time since the attack earlier, her voice weak.

"What are you doing?" The Prince could tell that Lan was up to something. "Lan Fan!"

The female Xingese teen fiercely grabbed the collar of her outfit with her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut as sweat ran down her face. Her heart beat was increasing by the minute.

"Don't do anything foolish!"

Lan Fan opened her eyes, showing determination despite the adrenaline and fear pulsing through her. And without any hesitation, she thrusted the weapon at her injured arm.

"NOO!" The Prince and Xingese/Ishvalan girl yelled at the same time to stop her, but it was too late.

Explosions emerged as Al and Scar fought with Ed away from the battle to take care of Winry.

He had managed to calm her down so she wouldn't end up shooting the male Ishvalan. He reminded her of the many things she's done to help and save people, including the Elric brothers themselves. After that, he gave his friend the red coat he wore with his dark outfit, and Winry burst into tears in his arms.

Officers were nearby, and Ed informed one to take Winry to a safe location.

He then went off to join Alphonse once more.

"Stay out of my way!" Scar warned Al as the suit of armor rushed past. "Do you want me to destroy you?"

"No, I don't!" replied Al, using his alchemy to make blocks out of buildings to jump onto.

"I know that beneath that suit of armor you are empty inside." The two jumped onto a base where a giant water tank was as Scar said this. "Is that also thanks to your alchemy?"

"Yup." Alphonse didn't deny it.

"How sad! You've been put into that cursed body, and you still devote yourself to alchemy!?"

Al clapped his hands together, blocking Scar's kick to the tank by creating a small, but thick, pipe out of it, gushing out water. The two then landed on the ground.

"It's true that there are many things that this body keeps me from doing..." Al continued Scar's mentioning of his body, "but being hindered isn't the same as being cursed! I don't need anyone's pity!"

He then made a fist, hitting his chest. "My big brother made a great sacrifice to bind my life to this word. Denying what I am would be like denying his hopes...or denying alchemy itself. I still believe in its potential. I want to believe in it!"

"Is that so?" Scar reached a hand into the running water, sending smoke by using alchemy, in Al's direction.

"Huh!?" It surrounded Al, but not for long as he noticed Scar charging at him, his right hand open. "Oh no..."

"HIYAAAAH!"

After that loud sentence emerged from the distance, the two saw Ed come out of nowhere, kicking Scar's leg to stop him.

"Whoa!" Ed looked shocked, as he and Scar skidded on the ground opposite from each other. "I actually hit him!"

"Big brother! Thanks for the save!" His younger brother thanked him, relieved, then his mind set on his friend. "How's Winry?"

"The MPS have her in protective custody." Ed replied. "I'm so pathetic. I made her cry again."

"Big brother, you're always too careless!" Al got after him, and Ed's face showed that he knew that already. "...She caught you in mid-battle at a brutal moment."

"I know." The alchemist's eyebrows furrowed, then locked his eyes on scar. "Now...let's get things under control."

"Peek...a...boo!"

The three of them heard this, and suddenly, Gluttony appeared in front of Scar, his tongue sticking out. "I found you! I found the Ishvalan!"

"You're..." Scar's crimson eyes widened, for he recognized him.

Al recognized Gluttony, too. "Hey...it's a Homunculus!"

The Ishvalan dodged just in time as the villain ran towards him, biting off a pipe. He then rested his right hand on Gluttony's back, sending a jolt of power through his body, causing blood to expel from it.

However, a twisted grin appeared on his face as his wounds started healing, slamming Scar into a wall an abandoned house.

Alphonse saw Ed dash off. "Ling said he would head them off before they could make their move!"

"So...where is he!?" The golden-haired teen was growing impatient.

Bradley strided furiously down the alleyways Ling was before following the trail of blood left by Lan Fan's arm, and blood from Chiui's wounds.

The president took his sword out of its hilt right as he turned a corner of where he found Lan Fan's arm, dripping with blood, but it seemed to be wrapped around something. His eyes widened.

 _BAKANG!_

The lid covering an entrance to something undeground popped off into the air, going in the same direction as an airborne, shirtless figure in the sky appeared in the group's view.

It took a moment for the brothers to see who it was. "Ling!?"

Ling had his sword held between his teeth, taking out a bomb out of the bag strapped around his waist. He snapped the top of the bomb off with his sword.

When he landed, he was on Gluttony, shoving the bomb into his mouth. Once the Homunculus swallowed the bomb, Ling took his hand out, though a little of Gluttony's saliva was on it.

He removed the sword from his mouth, and jumped off, "Get down!"

The 2 Elric brothers jolted, and in a split second, Gluttony exploded, blood and body parts splattering in every direction.

A piece of Gluttony's jaw, with some teeth visible fell in front of Ed, making him cringe.

His golden eyes widened in amazement as the parts started dissolving, returning back to the Homunculus, who was already regenerating.

"Get me a sturdy wire!" Ling ordered to Edward, who was watching in awe of what just happened.

It took a second for that order to go through the alchemist's head. "R-right!" He ran towards a beam of a railroad track, and rested his hands on it. Soon, it became the wire that the Prince had described, and Ling took a hold of it.

He started wrapping it around the Homunculus as he was almost done reforming, so parts of his body were squished between the wire.

"The fact your regenerative ability is so powerful became your downfall!" Ling told Gluttony. As he said this, he crossed the end of the wire, tying it into a knot. "Your own meat that expands from within, the wire will end up binding you tighter!"

"I got you, Homunculus!" he added with a sharp raise in his voice.

Bradley put his sword down when he noticed the dog that Lan's arm was wrapped around. Once the dog shook, with small splatters of blood flying off, the dog looked at the arm in confusion, oblivious to where it came from.

"Well played."

Down in the sewer, blood was splattered from Ling carrying Lan Fan and Chiui. He had taken off his over shirt, resting it where Lan Fan had cut off her arm, and wrapped it around her waist to stop the bleeding.

Lan Fan and Chiui, who was holding her right arm-since it was injured, were walking down the sewer in the water.

Both of the girls were limited of breath due to their wounds.

"The blood...is washing out in the water...so those monsters won't be able to track us..." the bodyguard of Ling directed towards Bradley, then with Chiui in unison as Lan Fan rested her back up against the wall to catch her breath, "We've outwitted you, monster!"

"What?" Scar was completely confused by the wrapped up villain before him. "A Homunculus?"

The steering of a car caught his attention, and before he knew it, he felt a blow to his right knee. Noticing that it was a bullet now, he grunted, falling to his knees, resting a hand on his wound.

When the dust subsided from the car steering, it stopped right in front of the two brothers and the Xingese Prince, who had a foot rested on top of the Homunculus.

When the group saw the person who shot the Ishvalan, only the brothers didn't know it was Riza. She had her hair down, and was wearing a white jacket over her military clothes. It...also looked like she was wearing glasses similar to Fuery.

"Get him on!" she directed this towards Ling. "We're making a run for it!"

Ed was totally confused by what's going on right now, but when he pictured Riza right now, and how she originally looks like, their mouths dropped open in shock. "WHAAAAT?!"

Ling had a bit of trouble picking up Gluttony, and could feel his muscles aching a bit as he put Gluttony into the car, soon jumping in after him. The disguised Lieutenant then got the car ready.

"Hey, wait a minute, Lieute-" Ed went to say, but Riza shushed him.

The wheels to the cars made a high squealing sound as it set off, and the brothers and the now injured Scar watched as she disappeared from their sight.

Several horns from cars went off as Riza sped past them in the street.

Her hair, as well as Ling's hair, moved in the wind.

"I've already heard about you, Ling Yao." Riza informed the Prince. "We're heading straight to our hideout."

"Wait!" Ling leaned in to talk to her. "I left two comrades. Pick them up for me!"

"Huh?" Riza's brown eyes expressed her baffled look. "No, we don't have time!"

"I'm begging you!" Ling's eyes opened slightly. "They're in critical condition! Both of the girls are waiting for me to get them!"

Riza gave that some thought, knowing how Ling felt about his bodyguard and Chiui. She felt the same way about her comrades, mostly Roy. "Make it quick."

With a forward push of the lever, Riza steered the car and headed for where Lan Fan and Chiui were at, listening to Ling's directions.

However, they didn't notice the president with a few military police with him, and happened to see them swoosh by. He watched them closely.

 _If I recall...that woman is Mustang's..._

A little smirk went across his lips, but was covered by his big mustache.

"You've gone and done it now, youngster. This is the last straw..."

It was now sunset, and Roy was dressed up in different attire than his military uniform. It would be considered casual. He had Ed and Alphonse in the car, as he had told them to get in earlier. But besides those points, the Colonel was focusing on meeting someone in particular.

When the figure appeared, it was a man older than him, with short dark hair, glasses, and a growing beard. He wore casual clothing like Roy, and grumbled when his eyes locked on him. He had a cigarette in his mouth.

Roy waved to him as the figure approached closer. Roy knew the figure; it was , an old friend of his.

"There's someone seriously injured." he informed Knox. "We need a doctor."

Knox walked past him, opening the gated door. "Doing dangerous things again?"

"You stupid brat." This caused the doctor to stop in his tracks when Roy said that. "As I recall, you have family." Roy then turned away from him with a troubled look on his face. "If it'll cause trouble, you don't have to do it."

Knox was silent for a moment, taking out the cigarette. "I'll go bring some instruments, so hang tight."

Roy looked at him. "Is it okay?"

Knox's glasses shimmered as he walked to his door, resting a hand on the door knob. "I divorced my wife soon after I came back from Ishval."

 **A/N: Again, sorry that the 1st part was short, but at least the 2nd part is finally finished! Chapter 10 is in progress, and I'm so happy for 10 chapters!  
**


	11. Findings and Bondings

It was now night time at Fuery's second house that Roy had mentioned earlier. Ling and the others were already there, and he was resting on a box near the room where Lan Fan and Chiui were being treated at. There was only one bed in the room, so they gathered something for Chiui to rest on.

"You two walked in the sewers, with one of you having your arm cut off?!" Knox was shocked. "As he put some of his instruments in the water pan next to him, and the blood come off of them in the water. "I wouldn't be surprised if you got tetanus!"

He then sighed in frustration. "I've only dealt with corpses lately. So I may be a bit rough."

A cloth was rested on Lan Fan's mouth so she can hold onto it with her teeth as Knox tended to her wound. Lan Fan moaned in pain as blood was dripping out of her wound. Chiui was waiting patiently, cringing at how much pain the bodyguard was in. Chiui knew she was in less pain than Lan was, but not that less. Chiui had developed a throbbing headache from her severe head wound, and her arm was aching a bit. But she felt bad for Lan, truly, and so did Ling.

He was outside as already mentioned, and had a look of shame on his face...self-shame.

Al and Ed were standing near him.

"I'm sorry..." Ed went to say, but Ling interrupted him.

"Don't get the wrong idea." he then opened his eyes, locking them on the brothers. "We're the ones who offered to help."

Lan Fan's groans could be heard in the background.

"We only worked with you guys because we had a common interest." he continued, pulling one knee up and leaning forward on it in guilt. "I'm seeking something so great as immortality. I was prepared for the worst when I left my country."

He clenched his trembling fist. "No...I wasn't prepared enough. Lan Fan and Chiui were more prepared than I was."

Some time passed by, and the groans and moans of pain from Lan Fan subsided, though some came out of Chiui as Knox tended her wounds.

Lan Fan and the Xingese/Ishvalan girl got some rest, and Lan Fan soon opened her eyes. Her eyesight was blurry, however, at first, but cleared right away. Chiui began opening her eyes as well.

All they saw was Knox cleaning his hands off, and a relieved Ed and Al. It seemed that Riza and Roy were talking to each other, aside.

"Are you two all right?" Alphonse asked them out of concern.

Ed leaned in with a happy smile. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

Lan Fan turned to face him with a weary grin on her face, though it was hard for her to move it. "Your trap wasn't half bad..." she complimented him weakly. "But I can't use it anymore..." She was quiet for a moment. "I need a replacement arm."

Ed's golden eyes widened as he looked at his auto-mail arm. "Sure!" he agreed with a determined look on her face. "I'll introduce you to an awesome auto-mail mechanic!"

Lan Fan's dark eyes seemed to be smiling in relief. Chiui's were like that as well as she stood up carefully from her bed, with Riza helping her out.

"I'm sure Lan Fan will need it, Ed." Chiui smiled. "She's a tough and brave person." she sent a knowing grin in the bodyguard's direction, in which Lan did the same.

Light from a lantern shone on Ling as someone approached him with an outstretched hand. Looking up, he saw it to be Roy.

"I'm Colonel Roy Mustang of the military." Roy introduced himself. "You must be proud to have those two by your side."

Ling stood up, clapping his hands together to show his gratitude. " I'm Ling Yao, 12th prince of the Xing Dynasty. And yes, I'm proud to have a vassal and a friend like Chiui." he felt his cheeks fluster a bit when he mentioned the girl's name, but he then took the man's hand. "I'm grateful that you found us a doctor."

"You helped us out by helping Maria Ross, as well." he reminded the Prince, and then turned around, facing an unused place in the house. "And this thing, too."

As the light shone on Gluttony, the Homunculus squirmed around, making the wooden floor creak beneath him. Soon enough, Ed, Al, and Knox were behind the two dark-haired people.

"Hey, what the hell is that?" Knox spoke up.

"He's a Homunculus by the name of Gluttony." Roy replied.

"Ho-"

"Apparently, this guy has some sort of connection with a portion of upper echelons of the military."

One word that Roy used struck Ling. " ' A portion'?!" he exclaimed. "You have no idea!"

Roy gave him a bewildered look.

"King Bradley." Ling's eyes opened very slightly in annoyance of remembering him. "It's possible that he is a Homunculus, as well."

Everybody looked at him in shock.

"He had a tattoo of Ouroburos on his eye underneath his eyepatch." Ling pointed to his right eye. "He and Gluttony both came after us."

"No way..." Ed was thrown off by this, as well as his younger brother.

"The top man of the country is a Homunculus!?"

Ling had looked away for a moment, which confirmed it. "But...Bradley didn't give off a sense of not being a human, like Gluttony did." He turned to face the group. "He feels the same as an ordinary human."

"Then..." The suit of armor began, but a thought came into his head. "First of all, if the Fuhrer President is a Homunculus, then what about his son?! I read in a book that Homunculi aren't able to reproduce!"

"No." Knox answered his question straight out, seeming to be in thought. "His son, Selim, was adopted. He doesn't carry the blood of the Fuhrer President."

"Hmph."

That simple scoff from Roy got the group's attention, noticing that Roy had a smirk on his face when he heard about that.

"A monster or a human..." the Colonel spoke up, "Whichever it may be, now it's easier to drag him out of his position." He then turned to Gluttony. "We'll get information on this guy, first. Let's take his Philosopher's Stone, too. I may be able to use it to heal my man."

"Hey, hey, hey!" This seemed to set Ling off. "Lan Fan lost her arm to obtain that, as well as Chiui trying to save her as she did so! We're taking that back to Xing!"

Bickering started to go on in the group, making them oblivious to what was going on in the abandoned room.

Gluttony's body was starting to squirm out of the wire, and he was growling in anger. "Mustang...? Mustang..."

This happened to get the groups' attention, causing them to look at the Homunculus with widened eyes.

"You killed Lust...Lust...Colonel Mustang...ROY MUSTANG!"

An eye suddenly emerged on Gluttony's stomach, bearing sharp teeth. And before they knew it, it started glowing, setting of a huge wind beam that took out the whole part of the room in front of it.

Ed's jaw dropped in amazement as he stared at the trench left from the attack. "Wha...what did that thing just do!?"

Riza was outside, still keeping guard when she saw what happened. She gasped. "Colonel!"

She jumped into the trench, skidding down. "What's going on here!? Colonel!"

"Stop, Lieutenant!"

That order from the Colonel stopped her just in team as another wind beam went right past her, ripping the front of her gun completely. She stared at it in shock.

"Colonel!" she yelled, seeing the top of the house fall.

"Where are you, Col...!?" Her fretful question was put to a halt when she saw a round figure emerge from the dust left from the explosion.

The eye of the Homunculus got bigger, showing more teeth and the Homunculus' mouth that merged with it. Riza got ready to fire at him, but heard a crash to the right of her. Her brown eyes caught sight of a fallen Roy, Alphonse, Knox, and Ed. Mei's small panda was holding on to Roy's face, covering it completely.

"Don't get it started, Lieutenant!" Roy took the panda off his face. " **I'm** the one it's after!"

The Homunculus heard him, sending a wind beam in his direction. He and the rest of the group dodged it just in time.

"Lan Fan! Chiui!" Ling rushed to the room where the 2 girls were staying as the roof rumbled above them.

"What is happening, my Prince?" Lan Fan asked him as Chiui rushed over to their side. Her arm and head were still aching, but not as much as they were earlier. She now had a bandaid over her forehead and one wrapped around the top of her injured arm.

"We're getting out of here." Ling told her. "The monster...had another one hiding inside its stomach. It's swallowing everything in its path!"

Ed stared, wide eyed at the newly formed Homunculus, who was growling at them as he held onto a tree.

"Is...is this the kind of monster...alchemy can create?" his face was sweating and becoming chilled by this.

"We have no choice." Roy replaced the glove he was wearing with his Flame Alchemy glove. "I'm going to kill it.""

"Wait!" Alphonse spoke up. "A live Homunculus is just what we wanted, right!?"

"Our survival is first. Plus, it knows our names and faces." Roy then snapped his fingers towards Gluttony, sending a streak of alchemy. "We can't risk letting this thing escape alive!"

When the streak of alchemy reached the Homunculus, it exploded into flames. However, the Homunculus started swallowing the flames up slowly, releasing a belch afterwards.

"He swallowed...the flames?" The Elric brothers almost said this in unison. The trio then dashed off, missing Gluttony's beam.

"You're useless!" Ed complained to Roy.

"Then why don't **you** do something!?"

"No offense, Colonel, but could you not follow us!?" Al butted in. "It's **_you_** that thing wants!"

The three of them headed for the woods, splitting up. Roy was on his own now, but not for long, as Gluttony appeared near him, his mouth gaped open. Thankfully, Riza passed behind the monster, shooting him with her bullets. It succeeded in altering his balance, but not the beam that came out.

Roy continued running, relieved to be saved by his subordinate for a moment. However, he winced in pain from his wound, falling to his knees. _This is pathetic..._

"Hurry up, boy!" Knox ordered to Ling as he put Lan Fan in the back of the car, and Chiui in the front. "We're leaving! They can get better medical treatment in the city! Get in or I'm going without you."

He then gritted his teeth as he started up the car. "I'm just a civilian-I shouldn't even be here! Whatever trouble you people started, I'm not about to lose my life over it!"

Ling could hear explosions in the distance.

Gluttony's feet stomped against the ground as he went searching for the Colonel, growling as he did so. He then happened to see him laying down on the ground, resting his hand on his wound. The Homunculus thought that he had finally gotten the Colonel, but when the aftermath of the beam subsided, and he swallowed the top of it, he only saw it to be a dummy, making him angrier than before.

Ed and Al had already arrived at the car, with Roy and Riza not far behind.

"Did it fall for the dummy?" Ed questioned the Colonel.

"Hope it's not in some crazy rage." Al worried.

"Hurry up!" he said to the four, with Roy getting in.

"Hurry up and get in the car, you useless fool!" Ed kicked the car, which didn't really help much. Aside, Alphonse told Riza to get in the car to take care of Lan Fan and Chiui.

"You can't tell me to leave at a time like this!" Roy yelled towards the golden-haired teen, which only caused a bickering between him, Alphonse, and Ed to emerge.

"I'm afraid I must concur, sir." Riza agreed with the brothers. "You'll be no help to them in your condition."

Ed's eyebrows twitched. _The Colonel can be dense..._ "Look, there are things that only can be done by a colonel." he told the Flame alchemist. "The fact that the military head is a Homunculus isn't something you can just ignore, isn't it?"

"This is no time for chit chat!" Knox interrupted. "Hurry up and get into the car!"

Edward, Alphonse, and Ling exchanged glances.

"There's not enough room." Ed gave the adults and injured girls an assuring smile. "Just go on without us."

"Don't be a fool!" Knox said to them, in which the 2nd Lieutenant added, "We can't abandon you kids here on the battlefield!"

Ling leaned forward, resting his hands on the bottom of his sword. "The thing you seek isn't really a Homunculus or the Philosopher's Stone, is it, Colonel Mustang? So shouldn't you be battling the military high command?"

"As for us," Ed added, "we still need to get some info of that Gluttony thing. We'll take care of him. The fact that we are kids isn't important. We're the ones that came up with this plan. It's up to us to clean our own mess." He then gave them a grateful nod. "Thanks for all the help you've given us."

Riza got out one of her guns. "Edward...take this with you." she held it out towards him. "You know how to use it, don't you?"

Ed's golden eyes rested on the tool with fear, and so did Al's.

"That's...a tool for killing people." Al's tone was that of sorrow.

"It's a tool for **protecting** yourselves."

Ed's eyes were still glued to the gun, but once flashbacks of Winry came into his mind, he took it. The two teens and the suit of armor then heard an explosion going off in the woods.

Ling turned towards the car. "Please take care of Lan Fan and Chiui!"

"Prince..." Lan Fan's voice was weak as Riza rested a cloth on her forehead, and Chiui rested a hand on her own; it was beginning to ache more. "Prince!"

Lan Fan's call for her Prince was mixed in with Chiui's "Ling!", but their calls were too late; he was already gone, along with the two brothers.

"Let's go... ." Roy ordered to the doctor, who hit his fist on the wheel.

"Those idiot brats!" he roared. "Trying to be so noble! It's people like that who die young!"

"The President is a Homunculus!?" The female 2nd Lieutenant exclaimed as the other two men, Chiui, and Lan Fan were farther down the road.

"So Ling says." Roy replied.

"But I can't be sure unless I see it myself."

"So, the one who gave the order for the Ishval Annihilation Campaign might not even be human?" Knox scowled.

Roy rested a hand over his mouth in thought. "If there are other Homunculi living among us pretending to be human...that could be... **problematic**."

The doctor released a forced laugh. " _Heh_! It's more **creepy** than problematic!"

More explosions went off as Gluttony continued to search for the Colonel, bellowing his name over and over again.

"...I know I said I'd battle that thing but...it's totally freaking me out!" Ed shivered as he, Ling, and Alphonse hid behind some trees in the forest.

"You're doing a complete 180..." Ling sighed.

"How are we going to catch it?" Alphonse added.

"If it could at least go back to its original, more gentle form..." Thoughts started going through the Prince's head. "...If only the Colonel was still here...maybe if we threw him into Gluttony's mouth, that would calm him down."

"Good thinking, Ling." Ed complimented, but as he said that the Homunculus spotted them, sending a huge wind beam at them.

"Where's all that stuff it swallows going to, anyway!?" The golden-haired teen yelled towards Ling's angrily.

"How should I know!?" The Prince replied with the same tone. "These Homunculi are made from alchemy, right!? You tell me!"

"Aw, jeez. This is going nowhere!"

Something suddenly got their attention, causing the group to turn. Mei's panda did the same, growling towards the forest.

As the suit of armor went to ask what's wrong, a horse appeared before the group.

"Stop, Gluttony." It spoke up, causing the said Homunculus to twitch.

"It spoke!?" Ling exclaimed, in which the horse's ears perked up by his voice.

"You're the one...from the other day!" the horse grinned evilly, and before they knew it, the creature transformed into someone...someone familiar.

Ed's eyes widened; it was Envy.

"Yo!" The Palm Tree Homunculus smirked. "Long time no see, little Fullmetal boy!"

Time passed by, and Chiui and Lan Fan were now at a different house, Dr. Knox's house. Roy and Riza had departed, and both of the teens were clueless of where they went.

had taken Lan Fan to a room separate from the others, and had the light on. He attached something to Lan Fan's right arm as she lied in the bed, bed sheets covering most of her body. The doctor then found a chair for Chiui to sit in, and something to rest her injured arm on.

"It's a shabby old man's room, but at least it's better than that shack. There are other empty rooms in the house, but they haven't been used since my wife and kids left me. If the lights in those rooms are on, the neighbors will become suspicious." Knox then turned to Lan Fan. "You don't want your whereabouts known, right?"

"Oh..." Lan Fan said weakly. "Thank you very much..."

"Don't thank me." Knox got out a cigarette lighting it with a match. "I did my duty as a doctor, nothing more. Just hurry up and get better."

"This is no time to be lying down..." the bodyguard started sitting up, "I must go to my Prince..."

"Don't be a fool!" the doctor stopped her. "What can you do in your condition!?"

Lan Fan looked over to the mirror next to her, resting her hand where her left arm once was. Her hand slightly trembled. "My arm...it really is gone..." She rested herself down back on the pillow, gritting her teeth in regret, using her hand to cover her eyes.

"I'll watch you and the other girl's I.V's." he told her. "Get some sleep."

"Do you still have that headache?" he asked the Xingese/Ishvalan girl, who shook her head, which meant no.

"But my arm is hurting still." Chiui's breath was coming out in short bursts. "It keeps on hurting off and on, and the pain is unbelievable."

"I can understand." Dr. Knox nodded, grabbing a cigarette from a box and smoking it. "I was in the War of Extermination, taking care of the injured. But their injuries were fare more worse than yours and the other girl's are."

He then became quiet for a moment, and focused his eyes on Chiui. He noticed her slightly tanner Ishvalan skin, and his eyes widened, surprised that he didn't pay attention to that before.

"Y...You're part Ishvalan?" he exclaimed, which threw the girl off.

She didn't know what to say. "Um...I don't think so. I mean, I've read a lot about Ishval and its people back in the library of my house back in Xing, but I don't think I'm part Ishvalan. Why do you ask?'

Knox took out the cigarette for a moment, and pointed to her skin. "It is obvious that you are not fully Xingese, that you are part of another race. Ishvalans have dark, tan skin. You have dark skin, but it is lighter than the usual Ishvalan skin. It is rare for that to happen, especially for Xingese and Ishvalan races to intersect."

"How come?" Chiui was curious now, and Knox knew that. So he filled her in on the details of the Xingese-Ishvalan war, and how the Xingese came to be prejudiced about the Ishvalans since then. He wasn't in the war, but he heard a lot about it from citizens in Ishval during the Ishvalan war.

"Speaking of which," he added after a pause, "I came across this certain Ishvalan named Samuel Minos."

"Samuel Minos?" Chiui's eyes widened at the name. "Who is he?"

Knox became quiet for a moment, trying to recall. "Well, he had just returned back from Xing, and was in the mist of the Ishvalan war. He became injured by falling rubble of buildings, as well as alchemy being used by the Amestrians fighting the Ishvalans. He happened to come across this family in danger, since a huge piece of rubble was about to fall on them, and they were being cornered by Amestrians. Samuel knew what was going to happen, and rushed to save them. He was able to save the little girl from the rubble when it fell down, but the parents weren't so lucky."

Chiui knew what he meant, and stayed quiet for him to continue.

"Thankfully, the Amestrians got distracted by an Ishvalan who charged at them, saving Samuel and the little girl from getting hurt by them. This also gave time for Samuel to find a nearby healing center for the little girl to go. He found one with two Amestrian doctors, and told them to take good care of her. They asked him if he wanted to stay, since he was badly wounded. He politely said no, and came over to where I was healing people. That's when I met him and he told me his fascinating story."

Chiui leaned forward in her chair; this was grabbing at her curiosity by the minute.

"He had told me that he had gone to Xing to learn alkahestry-Xing's version of alchemy. But instead, he came across this noble woman named Rin Youngsen, and fell in love with her. The two have an affair, with Samuel not knowing that the Ishvalans and Xingese were enemies, but he didn't care about that if he had found out. But when their affair was found out by the Emperor of Xing and also Rin's grandmother, Rai, Samuel was forced to go back to Ishval. The Emperor was disappointed in Rin cheating on him, and refused to see the baby when it was born. In other words, Rin had become pregnant during her and Samuel's affair."

As he said Chiui's mother's name and Rai's name, it hit Chiui, and tears emerging in her eyes, making them glassy. She didn't want to interrupt, so she stayed quiet.

"He told me about how he wanted to meet that child when it was born, but knew that he couldn't because he would face death if he was spotted back in Xing. ' I'm sure he or she will be beautiful.' is what he added afterwards. So he didn't know the gender of the baby, and still doesn't." Knox was looking down the whole time at his feet, and was now looking up at Chiui. "That's why I think...that you must be his daughter."

Chiui covered her mouth with her hands, now letting the tears in her eyes run freely down her face. All of her life, she has been wanting to find out about her father, wondering where he was all these years. Now, at 15 years old, almost 16, she has finally found out about him, and knows now where he is.

"I...I have to get to Ishval immediately!" she stood up. "I need to see my father!"

"You can't go just yet, young lady!" Knox stopped her. "You have to let your injuries heal first. It'll take a few weeks, maybe months before you can go."

Chiui sat back in her chair with a slump, letting out a long sigh.

"I...I can't believe it...this is such good news!" she said to herself, relieved.

Chiui then glanced over at the I.V. on the lower part on her injured arm, watching the liquid from it go back and forth as a result of her turning her body slightly. After a few minutes of silence went by, she started to feel drowsy, and her crimson eyes started to close.

She was now in Ishval...or at least, her depiction of it. She was walking around, asking people where her father is, only to get lost when she forgot where to go. She then saw someone appear suddenly before her eyes, and ran towards them.

"Father, is that you?" asked Chiui to the person, only to see that it wasn't her father, but a poor Ishvalan woman.

"Chiui...Chiui..." she began to say, making the girl confused and nervous.

"H-How did..."

"Chiui!"

The Xingese/Ishvalan girl woke up with a start, blinking a couple of times. "Huh, what...?" she spoke up, only to see that the one who was saying her name was Lan Fan. "Oh."

"You fell asleep." The Xingese teen told her. "I'm guessing it was about your father, right?" she added a smile, "I'm sure that you're relieved and happy about finally finding out about him."

Chiui nodded, adding a sigh. "Yep. I have been wanting to meet him for my whole life, and now, I feel like a great amount of weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

"I see." Lan released a sigh of her own, looking away. Her dark eyes then locked on Chiui's crimson eyes.

"...I...have been meaning to tell you something." she spoke up.

"And what is that?" Chiui wondered.

Lan pursed her lips. "...I...I want to thank you for trying to save me a few days back. I...really appreciate it."

Chiui's eyes widened, but soon relaxed with a kind smile. "No problem, but I...feel ashamed of myself for not being able to stop that wretched President from hurting you. He was too fast and powerful for us to stop him."

Lan Fan silently agreed with Chiui on Bradley. "But you don't need to feel ashamed. You...did what you could. Besides, I need a new arm in order to fulfill my purpose to my Prince, and I will need to get one as soon as possible once I've healed."

"That's true." Chiui looked down at the floor. "Ling would be proud of you."

The two paused the conversation for about 5 minutes or so until the bodyguard broke the silence. "I've noticed that you become flustered when you hear about or see the Young Lord."

Chiui's head rose sharply, turning immediately at Lan Fan. "W-W-Who told you that?!"

Lan Fan released a short laugh from her throat, adding a smile. "Well, it's obvious by your blush, which you just got right now. Even though you've only known the Young Lord, Grandfather, and I for a while now, you've become quite fond of him. And he's becoming devoted to you as well."

"Oh, that's ridiculous." Chiui laughed nervously, shooing the subject off with her hand, but it didn't go away.

"I...don't think so." Lan told her, then sighed. "To be frank, I have the same feelings for the Lord like you do, except..."

The sudden pause from the bodyguard caused Chiui's head to cock to the side. "Except what?"

The Xingese girl looked away for a moment, pursing her lips. "...Except if the Young Lord and I happen to fall in love and plan to get married in the future, the Xingese law won't allow it. It clearly states that 'an Emperor, or a Prince that is fated to become Emperor, can not, by any means, marry their own bodyguard of the clan that has served their own for years.' It is looked down up frequently, and is very strong. Emperors of previous dynasties in Xing have been either overthrown or executed for trying to break that law."

Chiui's breath was drawn back a bit. "Wow...that is...very harsh punishment. But...I'm sure that if you and Ling do get together, then Ling could find a way to change it so you two can have a happy and married life without anything bad happening. I'm sure Ling is very fond of you, and loves you dearly, since you're both devoted to each other."

"...Thanks." Lan smiled weakly due to the pain in her cut off arm. "But I know that will not happen. I don't want...the Young Lord to face being overthrown or die because of changing that law. That's why I believe...he might choose you instead, since you're from a different, but noble clan, and not from a clan like mine that serves his."

"But why would he choose me, when truthfully, he loves you the most?" Chiui questioned, then rested her back up against the chair; she had been leaning forward during the beginning of her and Lan's talking. "He wouldn't find anything special or interesting in me, really." she then thought about that. "Or would he...?"

"Besides the point, you would make an interesting Empress...if he does decide to choose you." Lan Fan's voice was starting to fade due to sleepiness kicking in. "Oh, and good luck to you on going to Ishval for your father."

"Oh, same to you too, Lan." Chiui went to say, but the bodyguard was already asleep. Knox was trying to stay awake, but behind his glasses, his eyes were protesting, wanting to close.

Chiui, however, wasn't tired, so she focused her eyes on the window, looking out in the night sky.

 _...Man...Lan Fan deserves a handsome and strong prince like Ling...it's is shown through his emotions that he loves her truly, and wishes to marry her when he becomes Emperor, but their love is fated, destined to not become true._ she then looked at . _And speaking of my father, I need to ask help from the doctor-what was his name again?- here to take me to Ishval...no. It might put a lot of stress on him. Besides, he's already done a lot for us. So...I'll just go myself._

 _However, it might take weeks, even months, like the doctor said, for my wounds to heal..._

 **A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little short, but I've noticed on my previous chapters of** ** _Broken Ties_** **that they're long, so I want to prevent that. I'm fixing to have more chapters than I did for** ** _Flaming Minds_** **, which had only 20 chapters. So** ** _Broken Ties_** **will have 20+ chapters than the original, but it depends.**

 **Hope you liked the chapter, for those that are reading it and following it! :D Chapter 11 will be worked on tomorrow when I have more ideas. ^_^)/**


	12. Time to Depart

A lot of events had happened in the past few days. Ed, Ling, and Alphonse were back from their mission to get information out from the Homunculus, Gluttony. However, they had failed when they were fighting Envy, who joined alongside with the other villain, and he had used a shape-shifting move to stop Ling in his tracks in the mist of the battle, in which it was Lan Fan, then Chiui he transformed into. But Gluttony calmed down by this point, but was still in his monstrous form, and got ready to send a wind beam towards the group. Ed and Al then rushed towards Ling to get him out of the way, and Envy joined in, but all of them ended up swallowed.

But they managed to get out, and were fine, except coming across Mei Chan in the underground headquarters of the Homunculi-of which they found it out to be. She became injured fighting alongside Scar against the Father, now Alphonse was keeping her safe in his suit of armor. As for Ling, he was safe, too. But it was an entirely different story...

"Hello?" Winry picked up the phone on the other line, and became silent for a moment. "Ed? What's with the sudden call? Did you break your automail again?"

Ed growled. "No!" he then exhaled, his tone shifting to that of concern. "Hey, are you okay? Are you doing well? Anything new in your life? You're not being followed by anyone, are you?"

Winry stood confused on the other line, and shifted the phone to her other ear. "Ed..."

"What is it?!"

"You're being creepy." Hearing this response from her, Alphonse and Ed almost fell over in response.

"What did you say?!" Ed's voice rose in fury.

"I mean, it's rare enough for you to call, and it turns out that you're worried about me?" she sighed, twirling the wire of the phone with a finger. "Geez, there's something wrong here. I bet it's going to snow tonight or something."

This was only making the golden haired teen more irritated by the second. "Hey! Do you have any idea how much I-"

"Hey, thanks." Ed heard her say on the other line, confused of her relieved tone."I'm happy...that you called. Thanks."

Ed turned around, his back facing the handle of the phone in the phone booth. The two exchanged a conversation. "S-Sure. So you're really okay, right?" he then nodded. "Okay, got it. Bye."

He then hung up the phone, letting out a huge sigh of relief.

"It's your excitable nature that lets people take advantage of you."

Al and Edward jumped when they heard a deep, masculine voice pop out of nowhere, and same went for the person standing before them, leaning against the right side of the phone booth.

Ling was in different attire than he was those few days back. He wore a dark grey shirt with a white brim at the collar, matching pants, and a jacket that was a much darker grey then his other, said attire.

"Ling!" The brothers exclaimed.

Ling opened up one eye, revealing its crimson color. His eyes before this encounter with the Homunculus were dark.

"I told you, I'm Greed." he told them, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"What the hell do you want?!" Ed put out one foot forward, his fist clenched. He didn't like hearing that Homunculus' name that he had encountered a long time ago, also since it had taken over his new, Xingese friend against his will.

His gold eye widened when he saw Greed stick his hand out, with a long piece of cloth in it.

"Your buddy asked me to give you this." he spoke up.

"Ling did?" asked Ed, who took a hold of the cloth and stared at it. He saw that the words were an entirely different language, and he guessed that it was Xingese. He also noticed that the words were written...in blood. "What's it say?"

"I don't know." Greed replied, looking away from the Fullmetal Alchemist. "Can't read it." He then faced Ed and his younger brother. "He wants you to give it to the women waiting for him."

"Lan Fan, Chi-" Ed went to say those two women's names, but cut off his own sentence. "You're not planning on following us and killing them, are you?"

"I'm not that low." the Homunculus gave them a blunt look, his eyebrows raised. A smirk was then added to it. "Besides, I don't like fighting girls."

He could see Ed taking one step forward. "I don't lie." he continued, and then walked off, waving towards them with his back facing them. "Later. Be sure to give it to them."

Ed and Al watched as the Homunculus walked away. "Hey, Ling!" the older brother called towards him.

"I'm Greed."

"She'll be fine." Knox informed Alphonse when he got there. "It's nothing life-threatening. She'll get better as long as she gets some rest."

He was referring towards Mei, who Alphonse had taken out of his suit of armor, and let Knox put the injured girl on his couch, giving her a blanket to keep her warm and safe, and also a compressor pad on her forehead to help her heal.

Al let out a sight of relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

" 'Thank goodness', my ass!" Knox sharply turned towards him, angered and caused the suit of armor to jump. "Giving me more patients by the day! Both my bed, sofa, _and_ one of my chairs are occupied! Where the hell am I supposed to sleep, huh?!"

Alphonse bowed about two or three times. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Besides, three patients in my house at once?!"

"Alphonse." two feminine voices spoke up at the same time.

The two turned to see Lan Fan and Chiui at one of the entrances going towards one of the other rooms. Lan Fan had her hair down, revealing its long characteristic. She had a blanket, or what looked like a blanket, over her shoulders, and had her hand rested on her non-existent arm.

Chiui, on the other hand, had her hand rested on her forehead, gritting her teeth a bit. "Damn...stupid headache is back again..." she growled aside. But besides that, she also had her hair down, which was a little longer than Lan's. It seems that her wounds have healed a little bit, but they were still giving her pain.

"Lan Fan! Chiui!" Alphonse rushed towards the bodyguard. "You two shouldn't be up!" Lan Fan almost fell over, but Al caught her just in time.

"Is...is the young master not with you?"

Alphonse stammered. "I-It's fine. He's alive." He then turned his head slightly, causing the two girls to look in the same direction. "I have a message from him."

He gave the long piece of cloth Greed gave the two brothers a while ago, and handed it to Lan Fan. The bodyguard's face went from concern to shock as her dark eyes scanned the words. Chiui read them as well, and had the same reaction.

Lan Fan walked away from Alphonse, and fell to her knees.

She held the cloth close to her, her tone being that of relief, because a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. "He says...he says he's obtained a Philosopher's Stone...with this, our clan is..."

She paused for a split second. "That's right! I must return immediately to my country and tell my people!" she and Chiui turned towards Alphonse with a joyful smile on their faces. "Where is he? Where is the young Lord?"

When she and the Xingese/Ishvalan girl saw the slight turn Alphonse did as his eyes focused on the floor, their smiles faded away. Lan Fan walked towards him on her knees.

"What? Why don't you speak?" she asked him.

"Alphonse..." Chiui added, "did something..." _Did something bad happen to Ling?_ she couldn't finish the sentence; her and Lan Fan were now at the same type of emotion they were before getting the message.

"Don't tell us something happened to him!" Lan Fan was distressed, but she had finished off Chiui's question without realizing it.

"Answer us, Alphonse!" The two girls said at the same time, but Lan added something alone, "Where's the young master?!"

"I see." Lan Fan spoke up. "So the young master took in the stone."

The bodyguard was now resting back in the bed, with Chiui standing up, with her back up against the wall."

"Sorry." Al apologized. "If only we had been able to stop him..."

"You don't need to apologize." Chiui spoke up. She had been silent the whole time Alphonse was explaining this. Al looked at her, noticing her disappointed look.

She...was disappointed in herself for not knowing this sooner. She wished...that she could've been there for him, so that thing with Greed taking over Ling wouldn't have happened.

Chiui could feel tears emerging in her eyes, but blinked a couple of times to stop them from running down her face. She had had her arms crossed, and grabbed her arm tightly.

"Lan Fan and I are mad at ourselves already as it is. She is mad at herself for not being able to fulfill her duty as a bodyguard-which I think she doesn't need to be mad at all...she was brave to sacrifice her arm. And I'm mad at myself for not being able to protect her...and now...to protect Ling..." her voice trembled.

Lan nodded, she knew how Chiui was feeling. "So..." she said aside to Alphonse. "So the young master is still inside this Greed person, right?"

She started sitting up, causing Alphonse to stop her, and for Chiui to rush to Lan Fan.

"Alphonse..." her voice changed as she rested a hand on her shoulder without the arm attached to it. "I want a replacement arm. And quick." Her eyes opened with determination.

Sharp gasps came from Chiui and Alphonse. "But...it'll take some time..." the suit of armor began, but was cut off.

"Please introduce me to an auto-mail mechanic! Please!"

The two looked at each other, silence coming in between them. Chiui looked at Alphonse, then at the bodyguard, wondering if Alphonse was going to accept her plead.

"Okay." Alphonse sighed, then put Lan Fan down onto the bed so she can get some more rest. "I will soon. But you have to get better before I do that." he then looked at Chiui. "Same goes for you, Chiui, before you depart to see about your father."

"Right." Chiui nodded.

"Speaking of which," the suit of armor thought, "have you gotten any word of him?"

"Yes, from, uh..." Chiui's voice trailed off as she tried to remember Knox's name. "Oh, right! has."

She then informed him about how Knox told her about Samuel's story, exactly how he explained it, but in her own words. Alphonse's eyes widened.

"So your father is Ishvalan?" he said. "And you didn't know this before?"

Chiui looked away. "Yes, that is correct. I...I thought that I was just a normal, Xingese teen...but I had differed from the others because of my skin. I really didn't know why I have that color, and I do know that the people of Xing have a different skin color than I do. But..." she pursed her lips. "But it stopped bothering me, I really didn't pay too much attention to it. It came back when I was 8, however, and I had always heard about my mother talking about my father, but never mentioned his name or where he was from. I would usually listen while lying down in bed, and then I would fall asleep soon afterwards, with it rushing through my mind the next day."

She took a deep breath. "That's why I decided now to search for my father, since it has always been something I've wanted to do since I was younger. I have always had an interest in other countries, mostly Ishval and your country, Amestris. So...I'm glad that I have those interests, since it'll certainly help me track down my father."

Alphonse nodded, then looked at Lan Fan. "Let's get you something to eat from Knox , alright, Lan Fa-" he stopped in his tracks when he saw Mei at the door.

"You can get up now?" he exclaimed, then thought of what she said her name was earlier. "Let's see...was your name Mei Chan?"

"Mei?!" Lan seemed to recognize that name immediately.

A small kunai slipped out of Mei's sleeve; she happened to hear the bodyguard say her name. She then threw the kunai at Lan Fan, but she stopped it by lifting up a book.

"What?!" Alphonse looked at the both of them, completely bewildered. Chiui couldn't blame him, she was feeling the same way.

"As expected from the Yao Clan's watchdog." Mei remarked.

"And you're the Chan clan's succession?" Lan Fan put down the book.

"Lan Fan...please tell me what is going-"

"Stay out of this, Chiui." the bodyguard warned her, not putting her eyes on the Xingese/Ishvalan girl.

"Indeed." Mei replied to Lan Fan's question. "I'm the 17th Princess of Xing, Mei Chan."

"If you're here in this country, it means...you're after immortality, as well."

"I'll never let you and your clan have it!"

Lan Fan grabbed the kunai she had next to her on the stand and got off the bed, causing the bed cover to fly into the air. She held the kunai close to her, glaring at the younger Xingese girl. "You won't even be able to find it!"

Mei got out 6 more kunais, three in each hand.

"Hang on!" Alphonse, along with Chiui, spoke up. "I don't really get it, but let's play nice!"

"Don't interfere with our country's affairs!" both of the dark haired girls yelled towards Alphonse, causing him to almost lost his balance.

 _Geez..._ Chiui thought. _Wait. Xing has affairs...?_

"Don't underestimate me because I'm injured." Lan turned towards Mei, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Same to you!"

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Knox yelled, hitting both of the dark haired girls smack dab on the top of the head. He hit Lan Fan with a bowl full of water with a towel in it, and a bowl full of food on Mei. "Patients should be asleep in bed!"

He then looked at Chiui.

"IpromisesirIdidn'thaveanythinganythingtodowiththisIswear!" All Chiui's words came out fast in terms of fear of probably getting hit by a bowl.

Knox sighed, and looked at the other two girls.

"Don't interfere with our country's..." Mei spoke up, holding her head in pain.

"Hell if I care about your country's affairs, moron!" he yellled at her and released a sigh. "Geez! Patients are patients, no matter what country they're in!"

He started walking away, but heard Lan Fan and Mei scowl at each other, and turned around, scaring them both.

"You're planning on messing up my house even more?" he told them, and started walking towards them. "Hey...you've heard of cases where unknown pathogens mysteriously appear in a doctor's house and kill everyone...right?!"

Lan and Mei held each other in fear, while Chiui was behind Alphonse, staring at Knox in complete horror.

He let out a _hmph_. "Just as I thought."

* * *

A few months have passed by now, and Chiui's wounds have healed. They haven't healed completely, just only to the point where it didn't bother her anymore. As for Lan Fan, she was doing better, and so was Mei, who had departed recently because of her improved condition.

She was putting on a pair of clothes Knox gave her due to her other outfit being torn at one of the sleeves due to Bradley's attack. The clothes consisted of a dusty rose turtleneck, dark gray pants, and black, strapless sandals. She was disappointed in her previous outfit being ruined, since it was her favorite. But as she took a quick look in the mirror, that feeling quickly faded away, as she observed the full view of the outfit.

 _This might work_. she thought. Her crimson eyes widened when she heard the door open behind her. She turned around to see who it was, seeing that it was Lan Fan.

Their relationship has gotten better than it did the first time they met. It was rocky and the two tended to go at it when Ling was not around, but when he was with them, they would just glare at each other or scowl. Thinking back on that now, Chiui thought of that as foolish, since the two have been talking to each other and sharing common interests, as well as talking about Ling while Lan was resting on the bed to let her injury recover.

"Are you leaving?" Lan Fan asked her as Chiui took a hold of her old clothes and draped them over her shoulder.

Chiui nodded, and immediately felt sorrow set in her heart. "Yes, I am. Dr. Knox told me where Ishval is, which is a region of Southeastern Amestris on the border of the Eastern desert." She then lifted up something on the stand. "And he wrote it down in case I forgot." she laughed nervously.

Lan Fan let out a small chuckle, and made her way to the Xingese/Ishvalan girl. She rested a hand on Chiui's shoulder, causing her to look at it, then look at the female bodyguard.

"Best of luck to you to Ishval, Chiui." she smiled, her eyebrows furrowing in an encouraging manner. "I'm sure meeting your father will be a great memory to you."

Chiui giggled. "It will be a great memory. You're right on that." She then thought about the memories from before, the memories of her meeting Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu, and then coming across the Elric brothers later on. But the memory that will stick with her is falling in love with Ling, since her devotion and love for him keeps her going, not to mention the faith and hope she has in her friends.

The two teens transitioned into a hug. Lan Fan was looking down at the floor as they did so, and the top part of her eyelids went down slightly.

"We have to make sure to return back to the others, and especially return back to Grandfather and the Young Lord." she told Chiui, who looked at her, but she was looking at the back of the girl's head. "Because we have to fulfill our purposes and goals in order to do what's right, if it means serving somebody we're deeply devoted to... or reaching towards the truth any way we can."

"Right." Chiui nodded, and the two released from their hug, and set their arms back down at their sides.

Silence came between the two as they looked into each other's eyes. "Be safe, Chiui." Lan broke it when she spoke up.

Chiui laughed. "Don't worry, Lan Fan. I will." The two bowed to each other, and Lan waved to Chiui as she set off.

Chiui passed by Knox,who was smoking a cigarette and reading a newspaper. As she grabbed the doorknob and turned it, she looked at the middle aged man.

"Thank you, , for everything you've done to help me, Lan Fan, and Mei." she gave him an assuring expression. "You're a true hero."

After that, she closed the door behind her, and set off to Ishval.

He released a long sigh from his throat as the room got quiet. As he did this, a puff of smoke from his cigarette was released into the air and dissolved quickly.

"Kids..." he spoke up. "They are always kind and thankful to their elders. They always try to be so noble. Well, not all of them."

His eyes then focused on the portrait he had of his family. It was him and his wife, younger than they were before, with their only son in between them, smiling big.

That was a memory that will always be in his heart, and it stood out from the other photos he had in a separate room in the house.

"...I wonder...if my kid is the same way since my wife and I departed from each other..."


	13. The Foreigner that went to Xing

It took Chiui a lot less time than she thought it would to get to Ishval. She thought it would take as long as it did to get from Xing to Ishval, but she was wrong.

The moment she stepped into the city of Ishval, the sight before Ishval surprised her.

She thought that whenever she heard of Ishval, that it was full of people and was pleasant, peaceful, that anything hadn't disrupted it.

But when she saw the rubble of buildings on the ground, Ishvalans helping others to get rid of them, and little ones sobbing, it broke her heart.

"Wha...what happened?" her voice trembled. "What caused this...?"

"The War of Extermination."

Chiui turned when she heard a feminine voice reply to her question. The person was an elderly, Ishvalan woman, dressed in light crimson attire. She had a cane with her to help with her walking.

"The War of Extermination?" Chiui questioned.

The woman nodded. "It happened a lot of years ago when a Amestrian solider had shot a young Ishvalan girl, and the Ishvalans were not happy with what happened. So the Amestrians went to war with us, and tons of buildings were destroyed, and many lives were lost. The Amestrians completely demolished Ishval, and that's why it looks like this."

"Oh god..." Chiui was distraught. She looked around. "Why is there not that many Ishvalans here?"

"Well, many had died in the war, but some were able to escape with help from some Amestrian soliders that didn't agree with the war and lives being taken because of it. But most of us missed our home, so we have come here to resurrect it, to bring it back to what it was before all that chaos started."

"Whoa..." Chiui didn't know what else to say. She knew that Knox mentioned the war when he was telling her about her father, but she didn't know it would've been this horrible to drive people away from the place they were born and lived in.

"Excuse me, young lady." Another elderly Ishvalan approached Chiui, but the person was a male. "Are you an Ishvalan?"

"Me?" Chiui pointed to herself, getting a nod from the Ishvalan. "Well, uh, I'm part Xingese, part Ishvalan. I have been searching for my father, who happens to be of your race. Do you happen to know where he is?"

The elderly Ishvalans exchanged glances when she said the last two sentences. "You mean Samuel Minos, the former Ishvalan preacher?" Chiui nodded in response, confused.

"How do you know who he is?" she added to her expression.

"We have heard about Samuel having a child with a noble Xingese woman." The elderly Ishvalan man told Chiui. "He had told this Amestrian doctor all about his story, and we overheard it as we escaped from Ishval during the war. And seeing your hair and skin, it shows that you must be the child he wants to meet."

"So come with me." The elderly woman beckoned to Chiui as she walked over to an alleyway between two of the buildings that have been reconstructed. Chiui did as the woman told her, and noticed that the alleyway was rock and dirty as she walked onto it.

 _Might be from the aftermath of the war..._ Chiui hypothesized.

It wasn't long before the elderly Ishvalan and Chiui came to a circular, empty place where there was a couple of big rocks, tents, and flags. It looked like a small camp for Ishvalans to gather and talk about things.

"Does anyone use this place?" Chiui asked the elderly woman.

"Yes," she replied, "but only one person."

"And who would that be?"

"Sister Raquel! I didn't know you came back!"

"Hm?" The elderly woman turned when she heard her name being called by the masculine voice, turning to see who it was.

Before her appeared a middle aged Ishvalan man, with white hair in a ponytail, wavy bangs, and red eyes. He was wearing a short sleeved tan shirt, though it was torn at the sleeves. His dark pants were in the same condition, and so was the cape he was wearing over his shoulders.

Chiui's eyes widened. "Samuel Minos?" she heard Raquel reply. "My, I didn't you to be the one living here."

Samuel laughed. "Well, the person that used to live here has left with the other Ishvalans." he turned to face Chiui. "And who must this be?"

"Oh." Chiui blinked. "I'm Chiui. Chiui Youngsen."

A sharpened gasp came from the male Ishvalan when he heard that last name. "Chiui? So I had a daughter?"

Chiui grinned, nodding. "Yep!"

Samuel felt tears emerge in his eyes, and so did Chiui. They couldn't believe that they finally met each other. Without any more words, the father and daughter went into an embrace.

"So how is your mother doing?" Samuel spoke up as the two pulled away from their hug.

"Oh, she's doing fine!" Chiui replied with a joyful tone. "But...I haven't told her that I've been on a 6 month, almost 7 month trek to find you..."

Samuel noticed her change in tone. "What?! Why didn't you tell her?"

"It's because..." Chiui pursed her lips. "...It's because...I didn't want her to worry about me. But because of that, I have made Grandmother Rai and my half-brother Yosung worry over me. I'm sure Grandmother must have told her already."

Samuel didn't need to ask who Yosung was. He assumed that he was Rin and the Emperor's son.

"Well, you should have told her. She would be proud of you being brave enough to track me down."

Chiui looked down at the sandy ground, her crimson eyes turning glassy. "You're right, Father. I should've told her before I went off onto my trek." she clenched her fists. "And now she is worried sick about me."

Silence stretched between the two of them. "How did your trek go?" her father broke the silence.

Chiui thought about it, memories of meeting Ling and ther others coming into her mind. "It...went really well! I came across Ling from the Yao clan who's fated to become Emperor, and his bodyguards, Lan Fan and Fu." She then went on about what's happened while she has been on their team, as well as getting to know them and the Elric brothers during those almost 7 months.

Samuel noticed how flustered Chiui was getting when she mentioned Ling, which was about 5 ot 6 times.

"I'm guessing you really **like** this Ling guy." he smirked, crossing his arms."

It took her a few seconds to register what he just said. "WHAAAT?! Dad!" her face turned a deep red.

"Your blushing is giving it away." Samuel chuckled. "It's perfectly alright to admit it."

An army of sweat was running down his daughter's face. "N-No, Dad! I-I don't-"

"You're just like your mother, Rin. She always acted like this when I teased her."

Chiui hid her face in embarrassment.

"Okay, I'll stop." Samuel laughed. "But I do think that you and Ling will-"

"Dad!"

"Alright, alright!" Samuel stopped, but he was still smiling.

Chiui took a deep breath to calm herself down, and her face went back to its normal color.

"So told me that you had come to Xing to learn about alkahestry."

Samuel's eyes widened underneath his glasses, then relaxed. "That's right. I wanted to learn about alkahestry since I had read a lot about it. However, the other preachers I worked with in one of the former Ishvalan churches despised it because they thought it was a sin...also because the Xing-Ishval wars had recently ended and the resentment between both of the ethnicities had begun. I didn't agree with them, and I believed that alkahestry is a fascinating subject to learn about."

"So on an off day from the church, I went ahead and made my way to Xing. I didn't have a camel or anything to use to get through the desert, since some of the Xingese travelers passing by me gave me the cold shoulder. I was exhausted, and fainted right in front of a noble Xingese house. When I woke up, I saw a noble Xingese woman before me. She was beautiful. She had short, dark hair and dark eyes, and wore a red and black Xingese dress." He sighed happily. "I'm glad I ran into her, since it was love at first sight."

Samuel paused for a moment. "So while I was staying at her place, I found out that she had feelings for me, and we got together. This eventually lead to an affair between the two of us, and Rin ended up getting pregnant with you, and her mother found out, keeping it secret from the Emperor until you were born. I was only with your mother for 2 years, going on 3 years. So I was kicked out and forced to go back to Ishval, because if I tried to come back, I would've been killed. The Emperor of Xing found out about our affair soon after I left Xing, and was very disappointed with his wife from the Youngsen clan."

Samuel exhaled, putting his hands on his hips. "So I never got to learn alkahestry. The boss at my church fired me when I told him where I was, and I've been out of a job ever since. That is why I found another hobby."

"And what hobby is that?" Chiui wondered, interested by her father's story. It was tragic, but excellent to her.

"Oh, Ishvalan martial arts." Samuel grinned. "It's quite easy to learn for me. And I'm sure your mother taught you Xingese martial arts, along with your half-brother."

"That's correct." Chiui nodded, and started thinking back to when she was in the library before her trek. "I had read about Ishvalan martial arts, and I'm interested to learn about it."

"Well, you've found the right teacher." Samuel joked around, elbowing his daughter's arm. Chiui flinched, causing her father to apologize.

"How many months will it take for me to have the Ishvalan martial arts down pat?" Chiui wondered.

"About 4 to 5 months." Her father replied. "Trust me, you'll do an awesome job."

Chiui smiled warmly, "Thanks, Dad."

Samuel raised his hands into the air, letting the muscles in his arms and rest of the body relax. "So when do you plan to take them?"

The Xingese/Ishvalan girl pondered on that, resting a hand under her chin. "...I plan to take them about a week from now. I would like to get to know you better before I take Ishvalan martial arts."

Samuel rested his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "Good choice! But you will have to live somewhere here until then."

Chiui scanned the perimeter around the training grounds. "What about one of those tents?" she pointed to one of them, which was already set up and support a dark green color.

"Sure. But just to warn you, that tent just has a blanket and 4 pillows: 2 stacked on one side, and 2 stacked on the other side. I hope this doesn't bother you."

Chiui let out a short laugh. "Don't worry, Dad. I'm totally fine with it."

The Ishvalan man and his Xingese/Ishvalan daughter noticed that the sky was starting to turn a dark blue, which meant it was almost nighttime."

"You should probably be getting some sleep right about now." Samuel informed her, and Chiui went over to the dark green tent.

As she went inside and made herself comfortable, her father opened the flap to the front of the tent.

"We're going to be helping the Ishvalans arriving here to help reform Ishval tomorrow." Samuel told her. "We don't have to help them with the buildings at all, they'll handle those. It's just the markets we have to restore."

"Okay." Chiui's voice was growing weary, and she could feel her crimson eyes starting to close on her.

"Sweet dreams, Chiui." Her father leaned forward to plant a quick kiss on her forehead, leaving the tent afterwards.

He didn't see her grin as she started to fall asleep. "Same to you, father."

 **Author's Note: I know this is a little shorter than the previous chapters, but I want to skip to when Chiui starts her Ishvalan martial arts training with her father, Samuel in Chapter 13.**

 **Chapter 13 will be up soon. ^^**


	14. The Return

It has now been 4 months since Chiui's been in Ishval with her father. Ishvalan martial arts was basic to her now, and is something that she knows by heart.

She was busy now finishing up a training session with her father. For the final session, it was a take down, which Chiui didn't learn before in the previous sessions she took with her father. She had trouble learning them at first, but with his help, she managed to succeed, throwing him down with ease and resting a open hand on her father's neck in the form of a karate chop.

Her father laughed as he got up. "Not bad, Chiui." he turned around, and shook his daughter's hand. "You did quite well on your take downs for this being the last session you'll have from me."

Chiui went to thank him, but when the words "lastsession" went through her ears, her crimson eyes widened in disbelief. "Last lesson? Why?"

"Well, it is just the last lesson that I have to teach you." he explained, getting some water and drying off his face due to the amount of sweat running down his face. "You pretty much know everything up to this point, but the take down is the last important thing you have to memorize."

"Oh." Chiui was obviously disappointed by her tone, she didn't like the sound of this. She really liked learning Ishvalan martial arts from Samuel, she couldn't believe that time has passed by so fast.

"It feels as if I just came here and started training with you, Father." she remarked, letting out a sigh to express her emotion that she was feeling right now. "I can't believe that months have passed since then."

"Same here." Samuel smiled, and rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder, causing her to lock her crimson eyes on the same colored eyes of her father's. "But you've truly done a wonderful job of training while you've been here, and it's been fantastic getting to finally meet my child that I never got to meet until now."

Chiui could feel tears emerging in her eyes, they were starting to make them glossy. "Thank you, Father. It's been fantastic meeting you, too. I'm...going to miss you."

Samuel could feel the same happening in his eyes as well behind his glasses. "I'm going to miss you, too, daughter."

The two gave each other a loving hug, and stayed like that for a few minutes. A bird was heard tweeting in the sky, and that's when Chiui pulled away from the hug and started gathering her things. She had decided to take her training clothes along.

"Do you need anything else, Chiui?" she heard her father ask her as she stepped out of the tent, zipping it up as she did so.

"No, but thank you for asking." she smiled, and planted a kiss on her father's cheek. "Be seeing you."

Samuel watched as his daughter was departing out of Ishval and was waving goodbye to him.

"Be seeing you, too, daughter." a warm, but heartbroken smile crossed his lips as he waved back, watching his daughter disappear from his sight.

Chiui walked down the streets of the neighborhood lived in. She had the map Knox gave her that told her how to get to Ishval, so it helped her get back to Amestris.

She noticed that wherever she looked, light poles went off, and so did the front light porches on the houses...but only one seemed to still be on.

Chiui walked over to it, and knocked on the door, patiently waiting afterwards. It took a few seconds for someone to answer it. Her crimson eyes widened when she saw who it was. The person that answered the door had the same reaction.

"Chiui?" Dr. Knox spoke up. "What are you doing here at a time like this, and also, why are you back at my house?"

She didn't really know what to say at first, since she was paying attention to the doctor's tired face. "Oh. I just wanted to see how you were doing, and how Lan Fan is progressing with her arm."

"I wish I would be better." Knox sighed, scratching the top of his head with his fingers. "But as for the friend of yours, she has left recently with her grandfather, Fu, to get a replacement arm."

 _A replacement arm?_ Chiui had forgotten that Lan Fan had mentioned that, but was glad that she was doing alright. "Okay." she then focused on the weary features on Knox's face once more. "Are you alright, ? You look exhausted."

Knox let out a small laugh. "I wouldn't call it that. I would call it tired and shocked."

"Why?" Chiui tilted her head, and Knox explained what happened when Lan Fan had departed. His wife and grown up son had paid him an unexpected visit. His son had declared that he wanted to become a doctor, since he was inspired by how his father tended to the injured in the war.

Chiui didn't look surprised, but commented that Knox should feel proud of his son, which he was. He was just shocked that his family would visit him after all these years. Tears started to well up in his dark eyes, but he wiped them away.

"How did your meeting with your father go?" he decided on changing the subject.

"It...went well." the Xingese/Ishvalan girl blinked, not expecting the subject to be turned so abruptly. "My father turned out to be an amazing one! He is helping other Ishvalans restore Ishval the best he can, and I volunteered. Ishvsal is not restored completely just yet. Only a few markets and small buildings have been restored." she paused for a moment. "Besides that, he taught me Ishvalan martial arts, which I have down pat, but not mastered. I always felt heartbroken whenever Mother came into his mind, so that is why I am going to get them back together when we return to Xing."

Knox nodded, "I see." he straightened his glasses. "So are you going to find this Prince that you and that girl kept on mentioning?"

Chiui nodded, blushing a bit at Ling being mentioned. "Yep. Even though I had completed my goal of finding my father, I still have to help Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu with their goal. Same goes for Alphonse and Edward. I can't just go back after fulfilling my goal. I have to help others fulfill theirs."

She turned around, waving goodbye to the doctor, who waved back, wishing her luck.

Chiui started to feel drowsy as she searched for somewhere Ling would usually be at. She looked in Central first, then in the outskirts of Central.

She scanned the perimeter multiple times, until she smelled an aroma coming from somewhere. The 16-year old girl followed the aroma until she came across a damaged safe house.

The light was dim due to two people covering the entrance. One had muscular features, dark skin, dark hair and a mustache, and casual clothing. One had blonde hair, a matching mustache, blue eyes, glasses, and casual clothing as well.

She had suspected that they were enemies right away, due to how frightening they looked to her, and went to get into her battle stance.

However, both of the men heard her feet shuffle, and grabbed her by the arm. Next thing she knew, she was thrown right into the safe house, hitting face first into a wall facing the entrance with a _SWACK!_

As she slumped down to the ground, she rubbed her face in pain. "Ow...so much for trying to defeat them and humiliating myself in the process..." That is when she noticed a certain, golden-haired teen. "Edward?"

The teen recognized her as well. "Chiui?" When he turned and faced her, she noticed that he was wearing a white coat with a fur collar over his attire instead of his usual red coat, which he had lost sometime before Knox had gotten her and Lan Fan to his house. "Where have you been, and how did you find us?!"

"You mean...those two scary things are working with you?" her crimson eyes turned slowly to the men now standing in front of her, and once her eyes locked on theirs, she jumped, bowing. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryIdidn'tknow!"

"It's alright." One of them spoke up, exhaling, which revealing his deep, masculine voice. "We thought that you were an intruder, but you just happen to be someone that knows the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Oh." Chiui let out a sigh of relief. "I...I've known him for about a year now. But to answer Ed's question..."

She filled them in of her whereabouts the past 4 months. She explained in detail of her meeting with her father, her volunteering with him and the other Ishvalans, and her Ishvalan martial arts training.

"So your father is Ishvalan, and you didn't know that before?" Edward asked her, in which Chiui nodded in response.

"Well, I thought he was, but I didn't know for sure until told me." she added. "But I am thankful for him telling me who my father is. My father's a great guy, and he really wants to see Mother again." she clenched both of her fists. She had them rested on her legs, in which she had them crossed Indian style. "I can see it, and I want to take him back to Xing with Ling, Lan Fan, Fu, and I when we go back to Xing."

Edward gave that some thought. "Ah, okay. And how is Lan Fan?"

"Knox said that she went with Fu to get a replacement arm." she smiled. "I'm sure the auto-mail mechanic you chose will do an awesome job."

Ed could tell who she was referring to, and it was Winry. Chiui had watched Winry fix Ed's auto-mail back at Rush Valley, and knew that Winry had a lot of skill and talent to be a mechanic at that age. Ed felt his cheeks fluster thinking of his blonde, childhood friend, but he shook it off.

Chiui had a question of her own to ask. "And do you happen to know where Ling is? I thought he would be here since I smelled food, but it seems that he has left."

Ed's golden eyes widened. "Oh. The last time I heard of him, he-"

As if on cue, they heard footsteps approaching, and someone collapsing to the ground with their body straight. Everyone except the fainted figure became silent and stared at the figure.

It was Ling, obviously by the dark hair and ponytail. Ed could tell that he was in the same clothing as before, but that wasn't something that the two men and Chiui knew about.

He got into a battle stance, ready to see if it was the Homunculus Greed posessing him or not. But once they heard his stomach growl, a small "Fooood..." come out of his mouth, Edward and Chiui sighed in relief.

"It's Ling!" they both exclaimed, and Chiui rushed to Ling.

"Don't hug him!"

Ling had just finished off the last of the food Heinkel, Darius, and Edward carried with them. Chiui had found out those two men's names when Edward introduced Ling to them.

Ling was truly relieved to see Edward and Chiui again, but when he locked his now crimson eyes on her, he looked away, hiding his flustered face. The Xingese/Ishvalan girl looked confused of why he was acting like that, but felt her cheeks fluster as well. She was happy to see him, back, too.

Heinkel and Darius had asked who Ling was, in which he replied straight out with a smile on his face, "I'm an Homunculus." Ed freaked out as a result, pounding Ling on the head to not tell the two human Chimera that. Ed then introduced the two Chimera to Ling, and explained his situation with them.

Besides that, Ling had asked her how it was at 's place, and she informed him of what happened there, as well as becoming better friends with Lan Fan, departing after her injuries had healed and met her father, and then finding out that Lan Fan had departed recently with her grandfather to get a new, auto-mail arm. Ling was relieved that Lan Fan was alright, since he was worried about her, Fu, and of course, Chiui.

"So you were able to fulfill your goal." Chiui nodded at Ling's statement.

"Yes, but I still need to help you on yours and also the Elric brothers' goal." Chiui added. "I told that I don't want to be selfish and just go back to Xing without you guys. I want to stay and help you out so your goals can be completed as well."

Ling smiled, and extended his hand out towards her, resting it on the ground. "Well, I thank you for that, Chiui. You're a kind and brave friend to have." he then noticed that he didn't rest his hand on the ground...it was actually resting on top of Chiui's hand. His eyes widened, as well as the Xingese/Ishvalan girl's, and the two removed their hands from each other immediately, embarrassed.

Chiui looked over at Edward. "You haven't told me why you, Heinkel, and Darius are here." she reminded him. "And what happened to Alphonse?"

Ed's golden eyes became small in shock, but then relaxed as he told Chiui of what has happened in Briggs with meeting Major Armstrong's sister, Olivier, her army, and trying to defeat Sloth, a new Homunculus that they had come across. They had found out that Central's 5 laboratories connected like a hexagon, but it was for the Homunculi's use. Winry had arrived when someone told her about the brothers being at Briggs, and it happened to be Kimblee, the rogue alchemist from the War of Extermination. Ed didn't like Kimblee one bit, since Kimblee tried to kill him later on with a pipe through the stomach. That is when he met Darius and Heinkel, and they had to use a Philsopher's Stone on him due to the Fullmetal Alchemist's commands, and Ed felt was a long story.

"But I do not know where Al is." Ed's face became that of concern. His eyebrows furrowed in the same manner as he looked down at the ground. "I do have a hunch that Kimblee is somehow behind this."

Ed then looked over at Ling. "Is there anything that you have found out with that Homunculus Greed possessing your body?"

Ling nodded. "Yes. Greed had gotten into a fight with the Fuhrer, and has abandoned the other Homunculi. Also, the Father...will open the Gate on the Promised Day-" Suddenly, he winced, leaning forward and holding his head with his hand, trembling.

"Ling?" Chiui's eyes widened. "Is something wrong? What is it?"

"It's...Greed." The Xingese Prince gritted his teeth. "He's trying to gain control of my body again." He then looked up at Edward, his crimson eyes opening.

"But...why on Earth would the Father try to open the Gate...?" But Ed's question was too late; Greed had already taken over.

Greed let out a heavy sigh. "That Xingese Prince sure has a big mouth." he scoffed, and started to make his way out of the safe house.

"Wait, Greed." Edward spoke up. " Are you going to inform the others about your whereabouts?"

"I am no longer welcome in the circle of Homunculi," Greed reminded him, "and also, I have washed my hands of my siblings."

"Well, if that is true, you won't mind joining our side?"

A creak in the wood floor of the cabin was heard as Greed stopped abruptly. Visions of his friends-or what he called them: subjects, flashed through his head. He rememebered watching them die right before his eyes due to Bradley, but he also remembered the good times as well, when they were hanging out. He slowly looked back at the teen, the human Chimera, and Chiui.

His shocked face is what they saw for a few more seconds, but then a scoff and smirk replaced it. "I don't think so. But if I do happen to join an organization, I'll have to be considered the boss."

Ed smirked. "Well, that doesn't seem like a bad idea. Darius, Heinkel, and I will be your henchmen." he then looked over at Chiui. "You will be one, too, but wouldn't you be considered as a hench woman?"

Chiui shrugged. "It doesn't really matter."

Greed looked surprised at Ed's choice.

"You can't let your pride keep you from making a deal to acquire the information you want." he remarked, and Greed gladly accepts the offer.

"But just know that life as my henchman will make you into a criminal and a fugitive." Greed reminded him, then looked over at Chiui. "I don't know about her, though..."

Chiui gave the Homunculus a glare. "I would be counted as criminal and fugitive as well, since I'll be on your team along with Ed and the others."

"No one said that you were on our team...!" Greed went to say out of anger and shock, but Ling stopped him.

 _Just let her be on your team, Greed._ his subconscious told the Homunculus. _She is a confident, willing, and strong person. She will prove that to you if you won't be so stubborn._

Greed thought on that, exhaling afterwards. "Fine. Then you are on our team." a mischevious smirk slowly appeared on his lips. "But she might be of some use to me..."

He rubbed the bottom of his chin with his palm, with the last sentence being to himself.

 _Greed..._ Ling had a bad feeling about this. _Don't you dare think of doing anything harmful to her!_

 _Don't worry._ Greed chuckled. _I won't._

 _I hope he doesn't mean what I think he means..._ Chiui's face flushed a beet red, though she was very confused about Greed's sudden switch in decision of her being on the team.

"So what are we doing now since the 'Promised Day' will possibly start soon?" Chiui asked Edward and the others. She hadn't heard of the Promised Day before, but had a hunch of it occurring in a little while.

"We'll have to get prepared." Edward replied. "As of how we will get prepared, we'll have to see about that."

Unbeknownst to him, people he knew: Izumi Curtis, Roy Mustang, etc. are getting ready for the Promised Day in their own way, since they have just gotten word of it.

 **Author's Note: Sorry that this is short, but this chapter is meant to be that way. I had used the outline of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Episode 45: The Promised Day(from the FMA wiki) to help me out with the chapter. So I put whatever I could find that could fit with the story. I might update it when I get the chance to look over the episodes and put in more detail.  
**

 **The next chapter, Looming Shadows, will be up soon.**


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